[Dixielandjazz] RIP Mitch Miller.

Harry Callaghan meetmrcallaghan at gmail.com
Tue Aug 3 22:09:50 PDT 2010


I don't have the book handy, but I remember that one of the photos in it had
him being pulled in a rickshaw down what I believe was Wilshire Blvd.

The caption said that the man doing the pulling was the owner of Jeno's
Pizza & Chung King Foods who lost a bet to Stan

I believe his Chung King line was something like "Buy two cans, one for
dinner and one for when you're hungry an hour later"

And, since the subject has been diverted now from Miller to Freberg, I'm
still waiting for someone to come up with a recording of his "Abe Snake for
President" from 1952.which I've never even heard.

Tides,
HC


On 8/3/10, Hal Vickery <hvickery_80 at msn.com> wrote:
>
> Freberg and Butler did the voices (all of them) on the 1949-54 puppet
> show.  Freberg was Cecil and Dishonest John.  Butler was Beany (who sounds a
> lot like Pixie the Mouse from the Pixie and Dixie cartoons made for the
> Huckleberry Hound show by Hanna-Barbera) and Uncle Captain.  On the cartoon
> series Irv Shoemaker took the Freberg voices and Jim MacGeorge the Butler
> voices.
>
> Freberg's radio shows that I've heard have their moments, but he had the
> same problem everybody else has when they go from a medium where a little
> material goes a long way to one where you need new material every week, so
> parts fall flat.  Still mediocre Freberg is better than most of what you get
> today.
>
> IMHO Freberg's best work actually came in his TV commercials, in particular
> the "show us your Pizza Roll pack" commercial with Clayton Moore and Jay
> Silverheels (back to him again, as we go full circle!) and Sunsweet Prunes
> ("Today the pits.  Tomorrow the wrinkles!")
>
> Hal
>
> ------------------------------
> Date: Tue, 3 Aug 2010 17:26:36 -0500
> Subject: Re: [Dixielandjazz] RIP Mitch Miller.
> From: meetmrcallaghan at gmail.com
>
> To: hvickery_80 at msn.com
> CC: dixielandjazz at ml.islandnet.com
>
> Being a Freberg fan since my pre-teens, I only a few months ago obtained a
> coupla cassettes from "The Stan Freberg Show" that you speak of.
>
> Frankly, as much as I've enjoyed all his satirical stuff on records, I was
> rather disappointed in the series.
>
> I can remember him having a radio sitcom that was entitled "That's Rich"
> but he never made any reference to it in his 1988 autobiography.
>
> I guess everyone knows by now that Stan and Daws were the voices of Beany
> and Cecil the Seasick Sea Serpent.
>
> Tides,
> HC
>
>
> On 8/3/10, *Hal Vickery* <hvickery_80 at msn.com> wrote:
>
>
> For Sirius/XM Subscribers:
>
> The Sirius/XM OTR channel is playing a two-hour tribute to Freberg in honor
> of his birthday this week.  I've heard about an hour or so of it.  It's made
> up of shows from his 1957 CBS Radio summer series.  Great stuff with help
> from Daws Butler, June Foray, and others.
>
> Hal Vickery
>
> > Date: Tue, 3 Aug 2010 13:44:44 -0500
> > From: meetmrcallaghan at gmail.com
> > Subject: Re: [Dixielandjazz] RIP Mitch Miller.
> > CC: dixielandjazz at ml.islandnet.com
> > To: hvickery_80 at msn.com
> >
> > Putting the whole Miller/Sinatra thing on the back burner, see if you can
> > find yourself a means of listening to Stan Freberg's hilarious parody on
> > Miller's major hit record, "The Yellow Rose of Texas"
> >
> > I was motivated to give a listen to it yesterday after reading Mitch's
> obit.
> >
> > Throughout the recording, he becomes increasingly irritated as he is
> being
> > drowned out by what he refers to as a "smart alec Yankee drummer",
> > threatening to "secede from the band, so help me, Mitch Miller I will"
> >
> > Another Freberg classic.
> >
> > Tides,
> > HC
> >
> >
> > On 8/3/10, macjazz <macjazz at comcast.net> wrote:
> > >
> > > Mitch's job at that time was "if this isn't working, try that."  What
> > > Sinatra was doing (at the time) was no longer working, by the accepted
> > > standards. "O.K., let's try something else."  Miller obviously had more
> work
> > > than those that didn't work. He held the A&R post for years.
> > >
> > > In the meantime, there can be no lower common denominator than "Sing
> along
> > > with Mitch."  This was from an outstanding symphonic oboe playing
> Eastman
> > > School of Music Graduate.  Yes, he knew how tacky it was!
> > >
> > > At the same time he help lots of  performers and other musicians earn a
> > > living one way or another. (My personal favorite is his support for the
> > > computer Alec Wilder).
> > >
> > > I don't think he should be remembered by just the story that he pissed
> off
> > > Sinatra, even if Sinatra proved himself right (and Miller wrong). There
> was
> > > a whole lot more than that.
> > >
> > > Mart
> > >
> > > Martin D. McKay (Designated Listener)
> > > St. Augustine, Florida (Come on down and bring money)
> > >
> > > ----- Original Message ----- From: "Hal Vickery" <hvickery_80 at msn.com>
> > > To: "Martin D. McKay" <macjazz at comcast.net>
> > > Cc: "Dixieland Jazz Mailing List" <dixielandjazz at ml.islandnet.com>
> > > Sent: Tuesday, August 03, 2010 1:58 PM
> > > Subject: Re: [Dixielandjazz] RIP Mitch Miller.
> > >
> > >
> > >
> > >
> > >> I hate to speak ill of the dead, but Mitch Miller was responsible for
> this
> > >> abomination that resulted in Frank Sinatra literally hating him:
> > >>
> > >> http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JRNRaMToK1g
> > >>
> > >> This occurred as Sinatra's career was hitting bottom, and I'm sure it
> > >> accelerated his descent.  Soon Sinatra would join Capitol records and
> then
> > >> win his Oscar, but still can anyone be forgiven for insisting that he
> record
> > >> this?
> > >>
> > >> Okay, I'm magnanimous and he's no longer with us.  I'm just wondering
> what
> > >> how that conversation with Frank is going right now.  RIP Mitch.
> > >>
> > >> Hal Vickery
> > >>
> > >> Date: Mon, 2 Aug 2010 14:07:19 -0400
> > >>> From: mjl at ix.netcom.com
> > >>> Subject: [Dixielandjazz] RIP Mitch Miller.
> > >>> CC: dixielandjazz at ml.islandnet.com
> > >>> To: hvickery_80 at msn.com
> > >>>
> > >>> http://tinyurl.com/25edkc8
> > >>>
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-- 
Some men see things as they are and say why....I dream things that never
were and say why not            -
                        -George Bernard Shaw


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