R. I. P. Jo Stafford

Jo Stafford has gone to that great bandstand in the sky. I leave it to others to remember her hit recordings. I prefer to smile at the musical jokes she gave us as
Cinderalla G. Stump and Darlene Edwards. I was at a radio station in Montana not long after the Jonathan and Darlene Edwards record appeared. Hardly anybody knew it was Jo and Paul Weston. I played it and said it was a local housewife and I was the pianist. Would you believe some listeners actually thought the playing was pretty good. Lots of tin ears out there. Had fun with that for weeks before someone caught on. Good thing, as management, getting complaints about that awful singing, somehow failed to see as much humor in the whole thing as I did. Here's Jo as Cinderella G.Stump with Red Ingle and his Natural Seven.

Sedaris makes me guilty

I am on a monumental guilt trip for failing to properly appreciate David Sedaris, who has been declared a national treasure.

So Much for Soulmates

Do you believe in Soulmates? Do you believe in Jonathan Livingston Seagull? Do you have any idea what this crazy old blogger is talking about? Richard Bach wrote the seagull saga around 1970. Big, huge best seller. One of his later books was all about finding his soulmate, actress Leslie Parrish. Remember her? She was Daisy May in the '59 Lil Abner film. they got married. Then they got divorced. Bach's somewhat strange comment was that they were still soulmates but just couldn't live together. I think they both remarried. So did they get new soulmates? Are they living is soulmate sin? This is all too mystical and metaphysical for me.

Lil' Abner 1940

The cover of the 1940 DVD release of LIL ABNER says it stars Buster Keaton. It doesn't. He had a very minor role, a rather stupid and stereotypical Indian. No doubt most offensive to any present day Native Americans who might see it.The film got bad reviews as a failed attempt to put Al Capp's Dogpatch characters on the screen. I loved it, laughed my butt off. Silly and great fun.

Shep's Great July 4.

I got out my old VHS of Jean Shepherd's "Great American Fourth of July." Forgive the tired cliche' but I have to say it: It's a laugh riot. I'm almost ready to go out on a limb and declare Shep the best storytelling humorist of his time ... maybe the whole 20th century. Funny, funny FUNNY. And not as predictable as Keillor or Sedaris. You know what to expect from them and that's part of their appeal. But Shep has what for lack of a better term, I will call range. He can surprise me.