Signe Toly Anderson Passes On

Signe Toly Anderson, the original female lead vocalist for Jefferson Airplane, died on January 28 2015. She had suffered bouts of cancer on an off since the Seventies. By a strange coincidence, she died the same day as fellow Jefferson Aiplane member Paul Kantner.

Signe Toly was born on September 15 1941 in Seattle, Washington. She grew up in Portland, Oregon, where she established herself as a respected folk and jazz singer. She moved to San Francisco and, following a performance there, was asked by Marty Balin to join Jefferson Airplane in 1965. She married Jerry Anderson of The Merry Pranksters, author Ken Kesney's group of individuals who promoted the use of psychedelic drugs.

Signe Toly Anderson sang on Jefferson Airplane's debut album, Jefferson Airplane Takes Off. It was three months after the album's release and the birth of her child that Mrs. Anderson decided to leave Jefferson Airplane, her reasoning being that she could not take her baby with her on tour. Her last shows with Jefferson Airplane took place on October 15 1966 at The Filmore in San Francisco. The shows would surface on bootlegs for years before being legitimately released by Sony as  as Jefferson Airplane: Live at The Fillmore Auditorium 10/15/66 Signe's Farewell in 2010.

After leaving Jefferson Airplane Signe Toly Anderson went home to Oregon. There she sang with the band Carl Smith and the Natural Gas Company for nine years. She experienced her first bout with cancer in the mid-Seventies. She made guest appearances with both the KBC Band and Jefferson Starship. Since the Nineties she had experienced a number of difficulties with her health.

Signe Toly Anderson was a remarkable vocalist. She was gifted with a rich contralto voice, one that blended well with Marty Balin and Paul Kantner's voices in harmony. She also played a significant role in the early days of Jefferson Airplane. Guitarist Jorma Kaukonen said of her, "Signe was one of the strongest people I have ever met. She was our den mother in the early days of the Airplane…a voice of reason on more occasions than one…an important member of our dysfunctional little family."

Paul Kantner R.I.P.

Paul Kantner, rhythm guitarist, songwriter, and the leader of Jefferson Airplane and later Jefferson Starship, died on January 28 2016 at the age of 74. The cause was multiple organ failure and septic shock following a heart attack he had a few days beforehand.

Paul Kantner was born on March 17 1941 in San Francisco, California. His mother died when he was only eight years old. He was initially educated by the Christian Brothers and then later a Jesuit school in Santa Clara, California. It was while he was attending Santa Clara University and later San Jose State College that he taught himself both guitar and banjo. He left school to begin performing on the San Francisco folk music circuit. It was when he was performing at The Drinking Gourd in San Francisco in 1965 that he met Marty Balin. Together they formed the band Jefferson Airplane. Its original line up consisted of lead vocalist Signe Toly Anderson, guitarist Jorma Kaukonen, drummer Jerry Peloquin, and bassist Bob Harvey.

As Jefferson Airplane made their name in the San Francisco area, there would be some changes. The group drifted away from their original folk rock sound to a more electric sound. Jerry Peloquin left the band to be replaced by Skip Spence and then Spencer Dryden. Bob Harvey was replaced by Jack Casady. Jefferson Airplane's first album, Jefferson Airplane Takes Off, was released on August 15 1966. The album only went to no. 128 on the Billboard albums chart. None of the singles hit the Billboard Hot 100.

Signe Toly Anderson left Jefferson Airplane following the birth of her first child and three months after the release of Jefferson Airplane Takes Off.  She was replaced by Grace Slick, whose earlier band, The Great Society, had often supported Jefferson Airplane. In fact, Jefferson Airplane's first two major hits were inherited from The Great Society. "Somebody to Love" had originally been recorded by The Great Society, but had little impact outside the Bay Area. Recorded by Jefferson Airplane, it went to no. 5 on the Billboard Hot 100. "White Rabbit" had been performed by The Great Society, but had never been recorded. Jefferson Airplane's version went to no. 8 on the Billboard Hot 100. The band's second album, Surrealistic Pillow, went to no. 3 on the Billboard album chart.

Jefferson Airplane never saw another single with the success of "Somebody to Love" or "White Rabbit", although the band's albums continued to do well. From the late Sixties into the early Seventies, Jefferson Airplane's albums always made the top twenty of the Billboard album chart, with Crown of Creation reaching no. 6.

While still part of Jefferson Airplane, Paul Kantner did other work as well. In 1969 he played with fellow Airplane members Jorma Kaukonen and bassist Jack Casady's blues band Hot Tuna. In 1970 Paul Kantner and Grace Slick recorded the concept album Blows Against the Empire under the name "Paul Kantner and the Jefferson Starship". The album did very well, reaching no. 20 on the Billboard album chart. Paul Kantner and Grace Slick released two more albums together in the early Seventies: Sunfighter in 1971 and Baron von Tollbooth and the Chrome Nun  in 1973.

Jefferson Airplane was the only band to play at all three of the major music festivals of the late Sixties:  the Monterey Pop Festival in 1967, as well as Woodstock and Altamont in 1969.  Unfortunately by the late Sixties tension had developed within the band. Spencer Dryden was voted out of the band in 1970. He was replaced by  Joey Covington. Marty Balin left the band in 1971 following the death of his friend Janis Joplin. While it was never formally announced, Jefferson Airplane more or less ceased to exist in late 1972 after  two shows at Winterland in San Francisco on September 21 and September 22.

It was in 1974 that Paul Kantner, Grace Slick, and David Freiberg (formerly of Quicksilver Messenger Service) formed Jefferson Starship, the band's name taken from the ad hoc group of musicians on Paul Kantner and Grace Slick's album Blows Against the Empire. While Marty Balin contributed the song "Caroline" to the band's first album, Dragon Fly, he would not formally join the band until early 1975. Jefferson Starship proved very successful in the Seventies. Their debut album went to no. 11 on the Billboard album chart. Their second album, Red Octopus, went to no. 1. Their third album Earth and their fourth album  Freedom at Point Zero went to no. 5 and 11 respectively. The band also saw some success with their singles, with "Miracles" going to no. 3 and other singles reaching the top ten.

The band would see some changes over time. Grace Slick was forced to resign from the band in 1978, while Marty Balin left in 1978. Grace Slick returned to the band in 1981. While all of this was taking place Jefferson Starship began to move away from the progressive rock and psychedelia of earlier albums towards a more commercial sound. At the same time their albums did not perform as well. Modern Times and Winds of Change only peaked at no. 26, while Nuclear Furniture only peaked at no. 28.

Paul Kantner eventually came to the conclusion that the band had become too commercial and left Jefferson Starship in 1984. At the same time he took legal action to prevent the band from continuing to use the names "Jefferson Starship" or "Jefferson Airplane".  Paul Kantner won the suit and as a result the band had to continue under the name "Starship".

In 1983 Mr. Kantner released his last solo album Planet Earth Rock and Roll Orchestra. Paul Kantner then formed the KBC Band with Marty Balin and Jack Casady. The KBC Band released only one eponymous album in 1986. From 1987 to 1988 he played with Hot Tuna.

In 1989 Jefferson Airplane reunited for a tour and a new, self-titled album. While the tour did well, the album was only a moderate success. It was in 1992 that Paul Kantner formed Jefferson Starship--the Next Generation, known informally as "Jefferson Starship". Both Jack Casady and  Marty Balin would be members of the new band. This new version of Jefferson Starship would release two albums:  Windows of Heaven in 1998 and Jefferson's Tree of Liberty in 2008.

As the leader of both Jefferson Airplane and Jefferson Starship, Paul Kantner had an enormous impact on rock music. He wrote a number of songs for both bands, some of which number among their best known: "The Ballad of You and Me and Pooneil", "Crown of Creation", "Volunteers", and "Ride the Tiger". He played a large role in Jefferson Airplane's move to psychedelia in the late Sixties and later he was responsible for the progressive sound of Jefferson Starship.  Indeed, it is probably no coincidence that Starship sounded considerably different from Jefferson Starship, let alone Jefferson Airplane. Indeed, following Paul Kantner's death Mickey Hart of The Grateful Dead said of him,, "He was kind of the backbone of that band. It was always about Grace and Jack and Jorma, I don’t think he got the credit he deserved."

The 60th Anniversary of Elvis Presley's National Television Debut

It was sixty years ago tonight, on January 28 1956, that Elvis Presley made his debut on national broadcast network television. It was on the variety show Stage Show hosted by big band leaders Tommy and Jimmy Dorsey. It aired on CBS at 8:00 Eastern/7:00 Central on Saturday night. Elvis Presley was introduced by disc jockey Bill Randle of Cleveland, Ohio. He performed three songs: "Shake, Rattle and Roll", "Flip, Flop and Fly" and "I Got a Woman".

This was not Elvis Presley's last appearance on Stage Show. He appeared five more times: on February 4 1956, February 11 1956, February 18 1956, March 17 1956, and March 24 1956. On the February 11, March 17, and March 24 editions of Stage Show he performed his hit "Heartbreak Hotel". The song had been released only the day before Elvis's historic first appearance on Stage Show, on January 27 1956.

Without further ado, here is Elvis Presley's first appearance on national broadcast network television.



19560128 - Elvis Presley - Dorsey Brothers... by ladcrp

The Late Great Abe Vigoda

Abe Vigoda, best known for playing Detective Phil Fish on the classic TV sitcom Barney Miller and who also appeared in the movie The Godfather as gangster Salvatore Tessio, died on January 26 2016 at the age of 94.

Abe Vigoda was born on February 24 1921 in Brooklyn, New York. His parents (Samuel Vigoda, who was a tailor, and the former Lena Moses) were Jewish immigrants from Russia. Abe had two brothers, Hy and Bill. Bill Vigoda would become famous in his own right as a comic book artist who worked for Archie Comics for literally decades.

Abe Vigoda began acting while in his teens, working with the American Theatre Wing. He turned professional in 1947 and appeared frequently on stage for the next two decades. In 1949 he made his television debut in an episode of the classic anthology series Suspense. In 1949 he also appeared in an episode of Studio One. In 1951 he appeared in an episode of All-Star Revue.

The Sixties saw Abe Vigoda very busy on stage. He appeared in the off Broadway productions Shadow of Heroes, The Cherry Orchard, A Darker Flower, and The Cat and the Canary. He made his Broadway debut in 1967 in The Persecution and Assassination of Jean-Paul Marat as Performed by the Inmates of the Asylum of Charenton Under the Direction of the Marquis de Sade. He went on to appear in the productions The Man in the Glass Booth and Inquest. On television he appeared in three episodes of the Gothic horror soap opera Dark Shadows. He made his film debut in Trois chambres à Manhattan in 1965.

The Seventies saw Abe Vigoda become a household name. It was in 1972 that he appeared as Tessio in The Godfather. He reprised the part in The Godfather: Part II (1974). During the decade he also appeared in the films The Don Is Dead (1973), Newman's Law (1974),  and The Cheap Detective (1978). It was in 1974 that he first appeared in his best known role, that of Phil Fish on Barney Miller Fish proved to be one of the most popular characters on the show, if not the most popular. The character was eventually spun off into his own short lived series, Fish. On television in the Seventies Abe Vigoda also appeared on the shows Mannix; Love, American Style; The Rookies; Toma; Hawaii Five-O; Kojak; Cannon; The Bionic Woman; Vega$; The Rockford Files; The Love Boat; and Fantasy Island. He appeared on Broadway in Tough to Get Help in 1972.

In the Eighties Mr. Vigoda had recurring roles on the soap operas As the World Turns and Santa Bararba. He appeared on the shows Harper Valley P.T.A., Mike Hammer, Tales from the Darkside, Superboy, B. L. Stryker, Monsters, and MacGyver. He appeared in the films Cannonball Run II (1984), The Stuff (1985), Vasectomy: A Delicate Matter (1986), Plain Clothes (1987), Look Who's Talking (1989), Prancer (1989), Keaton's Cop (1990), and Joe Versus the Volcano (1990). He appeared on Broadway as Jonathan Brewster in a revival of Arsenic and Old Lace.

In the Nineties Mr. Vigoda appeared in the films Fist of Honour (1993), Me and the Kid (1993), Home of Angels (1994), The Misery Brothers (1995), Jury Duty (1995), Underworld (1996), Love Is All There Is (1996), Me and the Gods (1997), Good Burger (1997), A Brooklyn State of Mind (1998), Just the Ticket (1999), and Chump Change (2000). He provided the voice of  Salvatore Valestra in the animated feature Batman: Mask of the Phantasm (1993).  He guest starred on the shows Murder, She Wrote; Diagnosis Murder; Law & Order; Weird Science; Wings; Touched by an Angel; Promised Land; Mad About You; and Norm.

From the Naughts into the Teens he guest starred on the show Deadline and was a guest voice on High School USA!. He appeared in the films Crime Spree (2003), Frankie the Squirrel (2007), and Sweet Destiny (2014).

Curiously for a very prolific actor who was almost never absent from TV or movie screens from 1972 to 2001, Abe Vigoda was frequently plagued by reports of his death. It all began in 1982 when People magazine made the mistake of referring to him as "the late Abe Vigoda". While People corrected the error, the mistake persisted both among various media outlets and in the minds of ordinary people. In 1987 a reporter for WWOR in Secaucus, New Jersey made the same mistake. She corrected it the very next day. Abe Vigoda took the death rumours all in stride, even having a bit of fun with them once in a while. In a famous skit from The Late Show with David Letterman, David Letterman tried to summon the ghost of Abe Vigoda, only to have the very much living Abe Vigoda show up and tell him, "I’m not dead yet, you pinhead." On Late Night with Conan O'Brien, Conan O'Brien consistently used Abe Vigoda in skits just to discredit the rumours of his death.

Abe Vigoda will probably always be bet remembered as Phil Fish from Barney Miller and Fish. The elderly, grumpy, laconic detective was perhaps the most popular character on Barney Miller and quite possibly one of the most popular characters of all time. Much of this is perhaps because Mr. Vigoda played the role perfectly. Even though he was only 53 when he first played Fish, Abe Vigoda was entirely convincing as a character who was apparently much older.

Of course, while Abe Vigoda may always be most famous as Fish, he played a number of different roles in his career. He was an extremely versatile actor. Including the cunning yet earnest Tessio from The Godfather he played a number of mobsters in the Seventies. Despite some of his rather gritty roles in Seventies movies and films, Abe Vigoda was also very adept at comedy. He played an elderly fast food worker in Good Burger and grandfatherly figures in yet other comedies (such as Look Who's Talking and North). On stage he played murderous brother Thomas Brewster in Arsenic and Old Lace. Abe Vigoda was a wonderful actor who played every part he was ever given very well.

The 90th Anniversary of John Logie Baird's 1st Public Television Demonstration

It was 90 years ago today, on January 26 1926,that the first public demonstration of live television took place. It was held at the laboratory of Scottish scientist John Logie Baird at 22 Frith Street in Soho, London. Mr. Baird had developed the first mechanical television, a device through which video could be generated by means of a rotating mechanism. The demonstration was held before members of the Royal Institution and a reporter from The Times.

John Logie Baird's demonstration was simple. It was a transmission of the face of Mr. Baird's business partner Oliver Hutchinson. At the time Oliver Hutchinson was in an entirely different room. The picture was small, only 3.5 by 2 inches. The image was also often blurry and faint. That having been said, the demonstration proved that John Logie Baird had achieved something that had never been done before--the transmission of image and sound at a distance. Television was born.

John Logie Baird continued to work on his mechanical television after this initial demonstration. In 1927 he transmitted an image through the telephone line from London to Glasgow, some 438 miles. After founding the Baird Television Development Company Ltd he made the first television transmission across the Atlantic, from London to  Hartsdale, New York. That same year he made the first colour television transmission.

Mr. Baird was responsible for the BBC's first television programme ever. In fact, from 1929 to 1937 the BBC relied upon John Logie Baird's 30 line system. In 1929 he introduced the first mass produced television set. With  Bernard Natan he founded France's first television company,  Télévision-Baird-Natan, in 1929. In 1939 he made the first live broadcast of the Epsom Derby.

Unfortunately John Logie Baird's mechanical television would soon become obsolete. The Thirties saw the development of electronic television. Mr. Baird's mechanical system had more limited range than electronic television, and tended to be less practical as well. After a trial run in 1936 the BBC then decided to go with Marconi-EMI's electronic system over John Logie Baird's mechanical one in 1937.

Despite this John Logie Baird did not leave the field of television. In 1939 he demonstrated colour television utilising a spinning disc similar to the system later developed by American broadcaster CBS. In 1944 he gave the first ever demonstration of a fully electronic colour television system.

Sadly John Logie Baird died relatively young, before he could make any more advances in the field of television. He died on  June 14th 1946 after suffering a stroke. Mr. Baird was only 57 years old.

While the mechanical television that John Logie Baird demonstrated ninety years ago today would eventually fall out of favour, that demonstration was still a pivotal moment in the history of television. It proved that the transmission of images and sounds was possible. As a result it paved the way for the electronic, analogue television that would dominate the medium in the 20th Century, as well as our digital systems today.

Godspeed Sheila Sim

Sheila Sim Attenborough, Lady Attenborough, died on January 19 2016 at the age of 93. She was both an actress and the wife of legendary actor and director Richard Attenborough, Baron Attenborough. She had been diagnosed with senile dementia in 2012.

Sheila Sim was born in Liverpool, Lancashire on June 5 1922.  She was educated at Croydon High School in Croydon, London. She worked for a bank for a short time before deciding she really did not care for the routine. She then studied at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art for two years. She made her stage debut s at the Intimate Theatre in Palmers Green, London in the play  Fresh Fields by Ivor Novello. She stayed with the theatre's repertory for six months before moving to the Q Theatre in Brentford, London for another six months. She then toured with Noel Coward's This Happy Breed. She appeared in the play Landslide at the Westminster theatre in London in 1943 and later played the lead in  Roger MacDougall's To Dorothy a Son.


Lady Attenborough made her film debut in A Canterbury Tale in 1944. In the late Forties she appeared in the films Dancing with Crime (1947), The Guinea Pig (1949) and Dear Mr. Prohack (1949). She appeared on television in the productions The Queen's Husband, The Ringer, and Second Chance. In the Fifties she appeared in the films Pandora and the Flying Dutchman (1951), The Magic Box (1951), West of Zanzibar (1954), and The Night My Number Came Up (1955). With her husband Richard Attenborough she was part of the original cast of Agatha Christie's play The Mousetrap.

Sheila Sim retired in the Fifties to raise her family. She worked with the Actors' Charitable Trust for over 60 years. She also supported RADA for most of her life. In 1968 she was sworn in as a magistrate and served on the Richmond bench.

Sheila Sim Attenborough, Lady Attenborough was a fine actress with a good deal of versatility. She played a variety of roles and her performances were all quite good. She was also instrumental in the Actors' Charitable Trust and a benefactor of RADA. While Sheila Sim's acting career was not particularly long, she then certainly made a difference.

Natalie Cole and Glenn Frey R.I.P.

Natalie Cole

 

Singer Natalie Cole died on December 31 2015. The cause was congestive heart failure.

Natalie Cole was born on February 6 1950 in Los Angeles, California. Her parents were legendary singer Nate King Cole and former Duke Ellington Orchestra vocalist Maria Hawkins Ellington. As would be expected, she grew up in a household filled with music. She made her album debut at only the age of six, singing on her father's LP The Christmas Album. She and her siblings made appearances on Nat King Cole's TV show that aired on NBC in 1956 and 1957. 

Natalie Cole met with success with her very first album, Inseparable. Released in 1975 the album hit no. 18 on the Billboard album chart and no. 1 on the Billboard R&B albums chart. Her first single, "This Will Be", also did very well. It hit no. 6 on the Billboard Hot 100 and no. 1 on the U.S. R&B singles chart. Her next few albums (Natalie, Unpredictable, Thankful, I Love You So, We're the Best of Friends, and Don't Look Back) all did fairly well. The first few ranked in both the top twenty of the Billboard albums chart and all ranked in the top twenty of the Billboard R&B albums chart. Her singles also did well, with "I've Got Love on My Mind" and "Our Love" both reaching the top 10 of the Billboard Hot 100. 

By the early Eighties Natalie Cole's career had declined, with her albums and singles not doing particularly well on the Billboard pop or R&B charts. Her albums Everlasting (released in 1987) and Good to Be Back (1989) did a bit better than her work from the early Eighties. Her single "Pink Cadillac", a cover of the Bruce Springsteen song, went to no. 5 on the Billboard Hot 100. It would be her album Unforgettable...With Love  (released in 1991) that saw her back on the top.  The albums featured songs that had been covered by her father, including the single "Unforgettable" in which she sang a duet with her father through the miracle of recording. The album hit no. 1 on the  Billboard albums chart and the single reached no. 14 on the Billboard Hot 100.

Natalie Cole would not keep up the success of Unforgettable...With Love, although her albums performed for much of the Nineties and into the Naughts. Her last album was Natalie Cole en Español, released in 2013. 

Natalie Cole certainly inherited much of her father's talent. She had a wonderful voice and was quite versatile. She could perform a rock song like "Pink Cadillac" as well as she could a pop standard like "Unforgettable", and perform a pop standard like "Unforgettable" as well as an R&B song like "This Will Be". Ultimately it is then hard to pin Natalie Cole down to one genre. Throughout her career she performed everything from R&B to standard American pop to jazz to rock. Ultimately she could perform anything she chose to.

Glenn Frey

 

Glenn Frey, vocalist and guitarist for The Eagles, died on January 18 2016 at the age of 67. The cause was rheumatoid arthritis, colitis, and pneumonia.

 

Glenn Frey was born on November 6 1948 in Detroit, Michigan. When he was five years old he studied piano and later took up the guitar. As a teenager in the mid-Sixties he played with local bands such as The Subterraneans and The Four of Us. In late 1967 he formed the band Heavy Metal Kids (not to be confused with the later British band of the same name). He was 19 years old when his first professional exposure came about, providing background vocals and acoustic guitar on Bob Seger's song , "Ramblin' Gamblin' Man" in 1968.

Glenn Frey moved to Los Angeles where he met J. D. Souther and formed the country rock duo Longbranch Pennywhistle with him. The duo remained together only until 1971. It was in 1970 that Glenn Frey worked as part of a backing band for Linda Rondstadt that also included Don Henley, Randy Meisner, and Bernie Leadon. The four of them performed on her album Linda Ronstadt, but only played live with her once. It was at Disneyland in July 1970. The four musicians then formed The Eagles. 

The Eagles proved successful right away. Their self-titled debut album went to no. 22 on the Billboard album chart, while their initial singles ("Take It Easy", "Witchy Woman", and "Peaceful Easy Feeling") all did well. Their sophomore album, Despeardo did not do nearly as well, peaking at only no. 41 on the Billboard chart. None of the singles from the album reached the top forty, although the album cut "Desperado" (which was curiously not released as a single) became one of the band's signature songs. 

The Eagles would recover, with their fourth album On the Border performing much better. The album included the single "One of These Nights" (which went to no. 1). It was with their next album One of These Nights, that The Eagles became one of the most successful rock bands of the Seventies. The album went to no. 1, while the single "One of These Nights" also hit no. 1. The late Seventies would see The Eagles with two more no. 1 albums (Hotel California and The Long Run), as well as such hit singles as "Hotel California" and "Heartache Tonight". 

By 1980 tension had developed in the band, with Glenn Frey and Don Felder constantly at odds. Glenn Frey quit The Eagles, while the remaining band members mixed their parts for the band's live album, Eagles Live. Glenn Frey then launched a solo career. He released three solo albums in the Eighties (No Fun Aloud, The Allnighter, and Soul Searchin'), all of which did moderately well on the Billboard albums chart. His singles "The Heat is On" and "You Belong to the City" both went to no. 2 on the Billboard Hot 100. "The One You Love", "Sexy Girl", "Smuggler's Blues", and "True Love" all went to the top twenty.

In 1992 Glenn Frey released the solo album Strange Weather to little success. It failed to chart and none of the singles reached the top forty. The Eagles reunited without Don Felder to record the album Hell Freezes Over in 1994. The album reached no. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100. The Eagles reunited again in 2007 for the album Long Road to Eden. The album also hit no. 1 on the Billboard albums chart.

Glenn Frey recorded one last solo album, After Hours, which was released in 2012. The album only peaked at no. 116 on the Billboard albums chart.

I cannot say I am a Glenn Frey fan. I really did not care for any of his solo work. That having been said, he was a member of The Eagles, a band that produced several songs I like and a band that was very popular in my youth. Glenn Frey certainly contributed to the band's success. In fact, The Eagles would not have existed without Glenn Frey. As Don Henley said, "...Glenn was the one who started it all." He certainly contributed to some of my favourite Eagles songs: "Hotel California", "James Dean", "Desperado", "Heartache Tonight", and "Get Over It". I must then say that I am saddened by his death.