Tuesday, December 04, 2007
Must the show go on?
I found a You Tube of Peggy Lee singing "Mr. Wonderful." I couldn't watch all of it. She was sick, overweight, sitting, probably because she was unable to stand. Not singing well at all. The same thing happpend to Rosemary Clooney, Judy Garland and many great stars. It made me think of one of my favorite Rosie recordings, "Mixed Emotions." I have lots of ambivalence about legendary performers who keep going right up to the end. It's a mix of admiration for what they were and what they gave to the world, their dedication to their fans, sadness for what time has done to them and a wish that they had chosen quiet retirement. I don't think I would want to be in the adoring audience for one of those concerts, wondering if the fading star is going to sing his or her final note and expire right before my eyes. I surely would not want to be the performer. Let 'em remember me as when as when I was at the top of my game. Those concerts usually get maudlin reviews with a polite reference to the star not being at his or her best anymore, but we love them anyway. Makes me sad.
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The other day my dad did an Ernest Tubb impression. He and Mom went to see Tubb perform in the early eighties up at Telemark--a godforsaken outpost where only the washed up go to perform.
ReplyDeletePoor Tubb apparently has him some bad COPD, because he would have to tell his guitarist to "take it away" while he doubled over and coughed. My old boss had a similar, most disillusioning experience with Marty Robbins.
Then again, you have Johnny Cash. His voice was dry husk at the end, but he turned out music that a whole new fan base loved.
Check out "When the Man Comes Around" on YouTube somehwere. One of the last songs he wrote, with some weird, Biblical allusions. His voice was shot, but it was good song!
Oh--and there's a very cool clip of Cash and La Lee somwhere out there, too, circa 1970, on his old show. They look as if they're ready to crawl into be d at the end.
"Whole new fan base" was said of Rosie, too. Long after she had lost what made her a star when she worked for Mitch Miller at Columbia she became the darling of Jazz lovers on specialty labels. Still saddens me to watch her very late performances, though.
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