Monthly Archives: December 2006

James Brown, 1933-2006

“Prisoner of Love/Please, Please, Please,” The T.A.M.I. Show From Rick Rubin in Rolling Stone: I remember going to Minneapolis to visit Prince years ago, sitting in an office waiting for him — and there was an endless loop of James Brown’s performance in the 1964 concert film The T.A.M.I. Show running on a screen. That [...]
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Coverville Cover Countdown

One day left to vote for Coverville’s best covers from the 2006 podcasts. Possible contenders: “Burning Down The House” by Tom Jones with the Cardigans (orig. The Talking Heads) “I Don’t Like Mondays” by Tori Amos (orig. The Boomtown Rats) “Save It for Later” by Pete Townshend (orig. General Public) “Sexual Healing” by Kate Bush [...]
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Danny’s Skylight, RIP

Sad news. After 30 years, Danny’s Skylight Room will close its doors on December 31. Danny’s is where I got to see Maude Maggart and Blossom Dearie (twice!)–and Fiona Apple and Margaret Whiting. Those last two were in the audience on the same night. Booking manager Don Schaffer plans to recreate a new cabaret showroom [...]
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Ruth Webb, 1918-2006

Ruth Webb, a talent agent who specialized in comebacks, died on December 4. Her client list included Gloria Swanson, Mickey Rooney, Tonya Harding, Phyllis Diller, and Divine Brown. She was also fond of raccoons. There, in a cloud of white satin bedsheets, Ms. Webb tirelessly worked the phones, persuading and cajoling, often nursing a live [...]
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Young Teri Garr

Hollywood Boulevard, 1966.
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Hollywood Books

Here’s a link to my reviews in yesterday’s New York Times Book Review, including books on casting, Stephen Baldwin’s faith, Jimmy Stewart, Ellen Burstyn, and life on the edges of old Hollywood.
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Betty Comden, 1917-2006

Belated: In a week that saw the passing of Ruth Brown, Anita O’Day, and Robert Altman, the death of Betty Comden seemed like one more sign that the twentieth century insists on slipping away. Thanks, then, to some twenty-first-century technology: a clip of Comden and Green singing “Carried Away” from On the Town at Art [...]
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