Nostalgia Programs
by Jerry Pippin


David Brenner (1936-2014) - Veteran comedian continued to work as recently as December 27, 2013  as seen in this appearance on "CBS This Morning" during which he showed he never lost his sharp wit even though he was battling cancer at the time. He also told how he was helping talented up-and-coming comics get noticed in "a sea of competition."

 

 

 

This is a show Jerry did on the life of Harold Ramis who died February24, 2014 at age 69 in Chicago.
Harold Ramis the embodiment of the Windy City of Chicago,he was one of Hollywood’s most successful comedy filmmakers when he moved his family from Los Angeles back to the Chicago area in 1996. His career was still thriving, with "Groundhog Day" acquiring almost instant classic status upon its 1993 release and 1984's "Ghostbusters" ranking among the highest-grossing comedies of all time, but the writer-director wanted to return to the city where he’d launched his career as a Second City performer.

Jerry Pippin - a comedian ,writer, and producer of comedy shows discusses the intersection of real life with the world of social drama and psychological machinations as Harold Ramis does in 2010 interview with WGN. And the longing for return to one's hometown as in a Tom Wolf story (You cannot go home again).
MP3 Running time: 39 minutes, 43 seconds
Windows Media Version

Mickey Rooney (September 23, 1920- April 6, 2014) - Jerry and Bostonred pay tribute to Mickey Rooney. Jerry tells some inside stories about Mickey who appeared on Jerry's show many times in the 1990's.

MP3 Running time: 31 minutes, 49 seconds

Windows Media Version

Jean Stapleton (1923-2013), a pace-setter in modern TV as co-star in "All in the Family," is paid tribute in this program featuring Jerry and Bostonred. History of the ramifications of this program on society is discussed in great detail with many examples of the Norman Lear series.  to listen

Van Cliburn (Harvey Lavan Cliburn, Jr.)(1934-2013)
From a most unlikely place where he lived most of his life and passed away from bone cancer, he proved classical music could breach all boundaries and win friends around the world.  In 1958, deep in the heart of the Cold War, this Fort Worth man did his part to bring down the Iron Curtain by winning a Moscow-based prestigious music contest. A week later and for decades Van Cliburn broke all classical music record sales

 

Patti Page (November 8, 1927 - January 1, 2013) - Listen to Jerry's January 2003 conversation with Patti about her early days in radio at KBIX in Muskogee. They discuss her first major hit, Tennessee Waltz, and her new version of that song.
MP3 Running time: 12 minutes, 38 seconds   -   Windows Media Version

Page's signature song, "The Tennessee Waltz," recorded in 1950, was one of the biggest-selling singles, Country or Pop, of the 20th century.
for youtube video of Patti's original version of, "The Tennessee Waltz"
Patty Andrews of the Andrews Sisters 1919-2013 - Patty Andrews was part of the World War ll entertainment scene as a member of the trio known for harmony, the Andrews Sisters. Her fame moved into the 50s and even later but this group was best known for the radio, and movie appearances during World War ll and afterwards. Patty was the youngest of the Andrews SistersPatty Andrews of the Andrews Sisters 1919-2013 - Patty Andrews was part of the World War ll entertainment scene as a member of the trio known for harmony, the Andrews Sisters. Her fame moved into the 50s and even later but this group was best known for the radio, and movie appearances during World War ll and afterwards. Patty was the youngest of the Andrews Sisters
Dave Brubeck (1921-2012)
His 1960's jazz reached across into mainstream music, making his pioneering of distant cords that normally musicians would not use together, combined with a very hip musical quartet made him a household name.

Phyllis Diller (1917-2012)- She was a Super Star but always took time to do a show with me and off stage she was attractive and very smart. She was a TV, movie and Night Club attraction for five decades.  MP3-running time 10 Min 30 seconds-
windows media version
 

Neil Armstrong (1930 - 2012) - Jerry Pippin's tribute to Neil Armstrong who passed away over the weekend at 82 years old. (originally Broadcast Monday night, 8-27 on the Inception Radio Network.) MP3 (running time 13 minutes 35 seconds) windows media version 

Singer Andy Williams, best known for his rendition of Moon River, his Christmas TV specials and his long-running show in Branson, Missouri, died Tuesday, September 25 at the age of 84, following a year-long battle with bladder cancer.

for video performance of  Williams' "Moon River" from the 1960s

Etta James : 1938- 2012 - The early morning hours at Riverside Community Hospital were the last hours of life for a legend in the music business, Etta James. James started out as a rock and roll r and b singer with several top ten songs, then after losing control of her life that saw hot check charges and even a brief time in a mental hospital, she came back with a career as a jazz singer, noted for her emotional feelings and delivery of the material, Etta often said she was proud of the jazz work because that was her mother's favorite music even though they had been estranged for much of their life.  Jerry pays tribute to an icon in the music field: Song: Trust in Me-  (BMI)

Las Vegas Memories
Over the years Jerry has done many broadcasts from Las Vegas.

CLICK HERE for a few selected shows available on demand.

Whitney Houston - 1964-2012
The news was shocking but for those who knew about her drug habit and high-emotion life style, it was not unexpected. The Golden girl of disco and pop hits is dead. Her publicist did not release the details this Saturday night in February (11, 2012) and it was an unusually cold night here when the metaphor was obvious, regardless of how hot a career may be, Houston became a movie star as well as a recording diva of much success, the chill of a long time can kill and often does. It is one of the great truths in show business, sometimes the money, success and recognition does not heal the wounds of life and this evidently was a truth with Whitney.
Houston's death came on the eve of the Grammy Awards scheduled for Sunday night. She was no stranger there winning many and breaking records with her music beginning in the 80s.  She had the perfect voice and the perfect image: a gorgeous singer who had sex appeal but was never overtly sexual, who maintained perfect poise but something happened to her in the early 90s, her drug habit became apparent, it ravaged that voice and entertainment history is full of references to her not being "together" on stage in presence or voice. She seemed to be born into greatness. She was the daughter of gospel singer Cissy Houston, the cousin of 1960s pop diva Dionne Warwick and the goddaughter of Aretha Franklin.
Jerry Pippin - 2-11-12

Andy Griffith (1926-2012) He passed away hours before the 236th birthday of the United States and this tribute to Griffith is inter-twined by Jerry as he looks at the career and the characters played by Griffith and the symbolism of America and what it stands for in the minds of most Americans. Bostonred joins Jerry in this tribute and it was produced by Doc Holiday.

Ray Charles- America the Beautiful (Traditional-Ray Charles Enterprises)

MP3 Running time: 21 minutes, 18 seconds

Windows Media Version


CLICK HERE
for KBIX RADIO MEMORIES
to see Jerry Pippin's KBIX-AM Radio Memories page, which
features audio segments from Jerry's days at the station in 1970 - it's living history. Listen and have fun!

Roger Williams, the pianist who topped the Billboard pop chart in the 1950s and played for nine U.S. presidents during a long career, died Saturday. He was 87. Williams died at his home in Los Angeles of complications from pancreatic cancer. (Saturday, October 8, 2011) (song Autumn Leaves -ASCAP-Reissue) 
Jerry's tribute to Roger Williams:

MP3 Running time: 5 minutes, 53 seconds
Windows Media Version

Robin Gibb- 1950-2012- Passes away from liver cancer. Robin and his brothers Barry and Maurice Gibb racked up dozens of hit songs in their five decade career as the Bee Gees.  for a video tribute and story about the Gibb Brothers from CBS news. .

In the heyday of radio before TV, New Year's Eve traditionally featured at least one network broadcasting big band remotes from major night spots around the country. Rare recording from a 1945-46 New Year's Eve Broadcast on the Armed Forces Radio Network-featured include- Louis Armstrong, Harry James, Count Basie, Tommy Dorsey, Duke Ellington and  Benny Goodman. 
MP3 Running time: 1 hour, 03 seconds
Windows Media Version, Part 1
Windows Media Version, Part 2
Elizabeth Taylor  (February 27, 1932 – March 23, 2011) - More than a Legend, more than an Icon- 3-23-11) Like most I never met Elizabeth Taylor but she certainly seemed like someone I knew. Several women that I have met over the years, mostly show biz types and dark haired beauties just like Liz seemed to identify with her despite her many marriages, addiction problems and the rest. She was remarkable in many ways and a Hollywood creature even though she was born in England, she came to Hollywood before she was 10 and stayed for 7 decades. My only close encounter with her was a cardboard cut-out at the Ritz Theatre in Muskogee when I was in high school. My best friend was the doorman at the theatre and he used to let me sneak in there and watch the movies over and over as I wanted to be an actor in the worst way and did my own little self-taught drama coaching. Giant played there, it had Rock Hudson, James Dean and Elizabeth in the lobby as cardboard cut-outs. When the boss was gone, I would clown around with the cut-outs and recite lines from movies to them all, but Elizabeth was my favorite. If she looked anything like the life size cut-out in the lobby, I could understand why the men went wild when she was around. 
We selected this short documentary on Elizabeth by Paul Newman for Turner Movie Classics shortly before his own death. One final thought: the passing of Elizabeth and many others from earlier times like the 40s, 50s and 60s is just another reminder that all of us, regardless of how rich or famous, soon face the final outcome of our lives, our last breath.  

Eddie Fisher: 1918- 2010

Eddie Fisher was a teen idol. Before Rock n' Roll and he had a million-dollar contract with Coca Cola which included his being on TV late afternoon for fifteen minutes a couple of times a week. He was hot until Rock knocked him out of Tin Pan Alley and into the night club world. He is best known for his female problems. He married pretty women, first Debbie Reynolds, then left her for Elizabeth Taylor who left him for Richard Burton. Then he married Connie Stevens, with whom he had two more children, and had romances with big-name stars such as Marlene Dietrich, Ann-Margret, Kim Novak, Dinah Shore and Angie Dickinson. He also married Terry Richard and Betty Lin. He had a daughter who is pretty famous as well, Carrie Fisher. He passed away in Berkeley Wednesday, September 22, 2010.

We have part of an old kinescope of a show he did in 1953, quality is poor because back in those they they literally filmed live shows off the cathode ray tube of the TV picture.

Mitch Miller
1901- 2010

Mitch Miller almost made it to 100.  Six decades ago he was responsible for a whole movement in pop music as A and R director for Columbia records and then he came upon an idea for a TV show- Mitch Miller used the bouncing ball and lyrics with interesting camera shots of ...just his group singing.  I missed the prediction, at the time, I was in high school, I said, "this will never work." Boy was I wrong, it was infectious and combined with his record career, he was a natural. Sing Along with Mitch was just the show for the fab fifties.
Jerry Pippin (August 2- 2010)

 

Broadcast Legend Dies at 93

Friday, July 23, 2010 -  Daniel Schorr, who had a 60-year career as a journalist, 24 of those years with CBS news, 25 years with NPR radio and a brief stint at CNN dies a few days after his last broadcast on NPR where he was a regularly featured commentator and guest. His career in broadcasting became well known in the early 50s when he was based in Moscow for CBS news, later when he came to Washington DC, he made the Nixon enemies list and was at the forefront of countless historical events as an on-the-scene witness and reporter.  CLICK HERE for his biography as read by Bostonred, President Nixon talking about Schorr, his recounting his surprise on live TV when he was told to read the enemies list for the first time on the air as it was just handed to him and his name appeared at number 17, then a discussion with Scott Simon on NPR's weekend edition where he and Simon held forth almost every weekend on various subjects; then Jerry Pippin joins the discussion with tidbits and observations about Schorr, Social media, the real media and how today's news commentators are short on the news part but heavy on the commentary.  CLICK HERE to listen to this archived show from blogtalk radio.
This link features videos and radio segments about and by Schorr from National Public Radio and covers a living testimony to history from a rare eye witness for decades. Schorr seemed to love his NPR duties and did has last broadcast for them only days before his death.

CLICK HERE for Jerry's tribute to Daniel Schorr, "Role Models are Becoming a Rare Breed"

Gary Coleman
February 8, 1968 – May 28, 2010

From Jan Pheneger, Advertising & Promotion, The Jerry Pippin Show:
I am very saddened by the news of Gary Coleman. I am from Lima, Ohio....Gary's hometown as a very young boy. My father ran a Movie Theatre in The American Mall, and I can remember those days long ago, when security would bring Gary Coleman to the Movie Theatre. We would sneak him in...without the Public knowing . ( smile )

I have a photo attached to this message, as a Tribute to Gary ...it is of his Grandmother...Luretha Coleman. Gary has not seen her in a long time.....but she is a very loving, always smiling woman, and shares a local Convalescent Care Facility, in Lima...with my mother. I visit both frequently....and is so enjoyable. The Photo of Gary's Grandmother... is mine.  I took the picture.

I thought perhaps you would like to see her. God Bless, and many Condolences to the Gary Coleman Family..our Prayers & thoughts are with you.
Jan Pheneger

Artie Shaw would have been 100 years old today, May 23, 2010.  In the 40s music continued from the changes that were started in the 1930s, big bands were the magic of the time thanks to radio frequently broadcasting live dance band remotes and the movies put out bunches of what were called short subjects to go with the main attractions, and big band shorts were very popular. No one was more popular with Hollywood than playboy talented musician Artie Show. He even married Ava Gardner one of the top screen sirens of the time but Shaw should be remembered best for his music. We have a video of him performing his "Begin The Beguine" which revolutionized big band jazz and also a salute to Artie Shaw from NPR's "Fresh Air," including parts of an interview he did in 1985  CLICK HERE


CLICK HERE for several film clips of Artie Shaw from the 30s and 40s

Lena Horne
(June 30, 1917 – May 9, 2010)
- Lena Horne passed away quietly late Sunday night of an undisclosed illness at New York's Presbyterian Hospital- Fame for her started in In 1943, MGM Studios loaned her to 20th Century-Fox to play the role of Selina Rogers in the all-black movie musical, Stormy Weather." Her rendition of the title song became a major hit and her signature piece. She was a jazz master but her beauty often over shadowed her singing talent. She was a star for 7 decades.

 

Pop Icon Michael Jackson was pronounced dead after ambulance officials responded to a call to his rented Hollywood Hills house where he was unconscious from a heart attack. He was 50. Jackson started early as a member of the Jackson Five and became a pop idol and a controversial figure because of sexual charges against him involving young boys at his Neverland Ranch.  He was preparing for a comeback 50-city tour. Now there is a movie about those final days with actual rehearsal film featuring Michael-

CLICK HERE for NPR's morning edition tribute to Michael Jackson (aired on June 26, 2009)

Michael Jackson made music video history with Billy Jean, a favorite that seemed to cut thru age and color barriers alike:
IPOD-TV from Jerry Pippin - download for your ipod video device by CLICKING HERE

CLICK HERE to view WMV version  
 Michael Jackson's Thriller. Thriller was the best-selling Album of all time..and still sells very well.  
IPOD-TV from Jerry Pippin - download for your ipod video device by CLICKING HERE

CLICK HERE  for WMV version
Bostonred, blogtalk show host did a show about Michael Jackson with Jerry as guest. CLICK HERE to listen.

The final resting place for Les Paul is a cemetery in his hometown of Waukesha, Wisconsin at the Prairie Home Cemetery. Paul traveled a long road of success and some set backs from his birthdate in 1915 to his death  in August of 2009. In this tribute to the guitar great, his innovations are discussed and some highlights of his life as bostonred, an internet talk show host talks with his guest, personality Jerry Pippin who then in turn features this program. It is some of the bostonred Blog Talk radio show broadcast plus some of Pippin's own comments.
MP3 Running time: 51 minutes, 12 seconds  
Windows Media Version Part 1 - Windows Media Version Part 2

Music included in this show: Begin The Beguine- Les Paul Trio-  (NBC Radio Transcription- ASCAP),  
My Baby's Coming Home
- Les Paula and Mary Ford - (Capitol-BMI)
,
Vaya Con Dios- Les Paul and Mary Ford (Capitol- ASCAP), Les Paul and Mary Ford- How High The Moon (Capitol- ASCAP)
 

Les Paul: A legend in entertainment and a man solely responsible for the evolution of the guitar from nice amplified jazz sound to the hard rock and country fuzz guitars of the 50s and 60s and even today died quietly in a hospital in New York state.  Les Paul actually did his first night club gig with the electric guitar when it was just a piece of lumber in a night club in 1941. Then by 1952, he had carried his invention forward and developing multi-track recordings with his then wife Mary Ford for a string of hits that lasted a decade and survive the onslaught of rock 'n roll with the sweetness of melody and blending of female voice.  

Les Paul and Mary Ford had many, many hits in the 50s, but here is my personal favorite, it was not their biggest hit, but for me even though I never smoked, it captures the essence of the downside of romantic love when one of the two lovers is no longer part of the other's life. Listen and enjoy their version of Smoke Rings-
CLICK HERE to listen (mp3 version-podcast friendly)

The news about Les Paul was not that he solely became the number one asset of the Gibson Guitar company, nor that he made recording history with Mary Ford crossing over all genres of pop music with million sellers around the word or even that he won several Grammy awards. For the generation of seniors he was a role model still working well past his 90th birthday.  The world will miss the sensational guitar licks and the sweet caress of his mastery indeed.

Jerry Pippin, Noon CDT- (August 13, 2009) 
 
CLICK HERE to Listen to NPR tribute to Les Paul broadcast in 2005:
 

  Farrah Fawcett passed away on June 25, 2009- She was 62.   CLICK HERE to see Farrah in Charlie's Angels. 
 CLICK HERE for Farrah Fawcett tribute on YouTube's  other tributes to Farrah. 


Ed McMahon Gave Radio and TV Listeners Joy for More than 60 Years  
(June 23, 2009) Ed McMahon known for his decades-long broadcast career passed away shortly after Midnight Tuesday morning, in Los Angeles.
He is known for his 30 years of Johnny Carson experience as Carson's announcer and straight-man/side-kick but he actually started many years prior to that in the 50s after serving in the US Marine Corps as a fighter pilot in both World War II and Korean. He was 86.

McMahon died shortly after midnight at Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center surrounded by his wife, Pam, and other family members, said his publicist, Howard Bragman who would only say McMahon was suffering from various serious health issues in recent months.

 Before Ed did a children's show in Philly, or maybe shortly after that, he started on his career of commercial spokesperson by sitting on the hood of a car and talking live in a studio about a local Ford Dealer, then he made the move to network television. CLICK HERE to view clips of Ed's first network television show, "Two for the Money" with Sam Levinson.

Ed McMahon drunk? On the Johnny Carson Show? It happened and it is a comedy classic- CLICK HERE to watch.

CLICK HERE for Chris Mathews Remembers Ed McMahon video link.


Frankie Laine, 1913-2007 - Frankie Laine was a success even though he had a rough start, in his 20s he was a marathon dancer which needless to say was not a great paying career, but he enjoyed it and probably would not have become a superstar selling 117 million records in the 50s if he had not had a chance meeting a small night club in Hollywood where Hoagy Carmichael saw him perform. This meeting resulted in Laine's getting a steady night club gig and a contract with Mercury records.

Interestingly enough he was born to Sicilian parents in Chicago and his real name was Deveccio .. this unlikely beginning and his career as jazz singer in small night clubs seemed to be a stretch that one of his top selling records had nothing to do with Cowboys... however one of his biggest records ever was Mule Train.

 

Frankie Laine was a late bloomer, but when he hit the big time, he sold millions of records and was a major star in the 1950's pre-rock-n-roll days, and his career continued up to 1998 when he recorded his last CD. Listen to this tribute to Frankie Laine by Jerry.
Windows Media Version

Produced by Jane Swartley
Song: Mule Train ( Ascap- Mercury Records)


CLICK HERE

to read singer and songwriter
Jack Blanchard's tribute to Frankie Laine.

Terri Gross has a very in-depth tribute to Frankie Laine on her Fresh Air Public Radio Show from National Public Radio.
CLICK HERE

to listen.


Saving Words, Music and Radio History - Pacifica Radio Archives presented Voices for Peace and Non Violence, the 5th Annual Preservation Fund Drive, on November 28 and 29, 2006.

The Ballad of Pete Seeger, is a radio documentary celebrating his life and times, and features a candid conversation with Tim Robbins. Other personalities involved in the broadcast: Amy Goodman, Brian DeShazor (Director/Producer Pacifica Radio Archives), Studs Terkel, Serj Tankian, Tom Morello, Sonali Kolhatkar, Larry Bensky, Margaret Prescod, Andrea Lewis and many other personalities.

CLICK HERE to listen to Jerry's interview with Brian DeShazor, Director/Producer of Pacifica Radio Archives, concerning this fundraiser show and the ongoing activities of the Pacifica Radio Archives. 


Jerry pays tribute to the career of Lou Rawls, a musician's musician and a man's man when it came to helping his fellow human beings, who passed away on January 6, 2006 at age 72. With a strong ethic honed in Gospel roots and developed on the West Coast to appeal to jazz and pop fans alike, Rawls had a special knack of doing the right songs at the right time.

All music selections courtesy of Capital Records: You'll Never Find Someone to Love You (Ascap), Willow Weep For Me (Ascap), Lady Love (Ascap).

Production Assistance for Lou Rawls music was "Grandpa's Goodies", AKA Bruce, owner of the largest I-Pod collection of music in Northern California and maybe the world.
Windows Media Version

MP3 available shortly


Richard Pryor, supreme comedian and actor, passed away on December 10th, 2005. Pryor's wife, Jennifer, said he died of cardiac arrest at 7:58 AM PT, after her efforts to resuscitate him failed, and after he was taken to a hospital in the Los Angeles suburb of Encino. He had celebrated his 65th Birthday on December 1st. Pryor had been suffering from multiple sclerosis, a degenerative nervous system disease, for almost 20 years. Pryor was married seven times, including twice to Jennifer, and had seven children.

Pryor appeared in many successful movies, but it was his stand-up comedy act, in which nothing was off-limits, including racism, that made him a controversial star.

Pryor won Grammy Awards for his comedy albums. In 1972 he portrayed Billie Holiday's piano player in "Lady Sings the Blues," which was nominated for an Oscar. Other movies included "Uptown Saturday Night," "The Bingo Long Traveling All-Stars and Motor Kings," "Blue Collar," "Stir Crazy," "Superman III" and "Jo Jo Dancer, and Your Life Is Calling."


Mississippi University's Michael Bertrand talks with Jerry about an incident in 1956 that involved Nat King Cole being attacked on stage by a white supremacist in Birmingham, Alabama. This is a segment from a broadcast on KBIX in Muskogee in 2000. Songs: Nat King Cole - Pretend (Capital records- ASCAP); Ink Spots - The Gypsy ( Decca - ASCAP). 
CLICK HERE for the official Nat King Cole web site.





Eddie Albert, the Oscar-nominated actor whose homespun manner and varied talents made him a household name while starring as the befuddled city slicker-turned-farmer in the CBS hit series "Green Acres," has died. Albert died Thursday of pneumonia at his home in Pacific Palisades, Calif. He was 99.

He achieved his greatest fame on "Green Acres" as Oliver Wendell Douglas, a New York lawyer who settles in a rural town with his glamorous wife, played by Eva Gabor, and finds himself perplexed by the antics of a host of eccentrics, including a pig named Arnold Ziffel. He also earned two Academy Award nominations as supporting actor for 1953's "Roman Holiday" and 1972's "The Heartbreak Kid." Although he appeared in more than 60 feature films and scores of TV shows, Albert was best known for his work on "Green Acres," which ran from 1965-71. Albert portrayed a fastidious Harvard lawyer who was passionate about farming, much to the displeasure of his high-maintenance, big-city wife. (Story by Duane Byrge, The Hollywood Reporter.)

Note from Jerry: As I grew older, Eddie Albert became more of a hero. Hell, he made it almost to a hundred and had a great career after most folks have retired, including the TV show, Green Acres. Check out Green Acres - The Place To Be! for the not to be forgotten show theme music, reviews, images, fun facts, trivia, memorabilia, and contests.
The photo, left, was taken April 3, 1967, at the Nugget Casino, Sparks (East Reno), Nevada, during Eddie Albert's Opening Night Press Party. Roberta Scott, now a member of the JPS Staff, was at Lake Tahoe and Soda Springs as the "Queen of the Amputee Ski Olympics", and was guest of the Nugget Casino. The Ski Olympics gave Vietnam War amputees the opportunity to compete in the sport.

It was a sunny Saturday afternoon in Oklahoma the second day of April 2005 when the news was made official. Pope John Paul II (1920-2005) had passed away. Jerry pays tribute to the man, his religion and his impact on world politics. Song: Ave Maria - Hollywood Bowl Symphony and Chorus (traditional).

 




 

 

Johnny Carson passed away on Sunday, January 23, 2005.

CLICK HERE
to see Jerry Pippin's tribute to Johnny.
When people hear the mention of Muskogee, Oklahoma and Guitar players they naturally think of Country types such as Merle Haggard. Many people are surprised to find out that one of the most recorded Jazz artists in the record business, grew up in Muskogee as well. At the age of 80, Barney Kessel passed away in early May of 2004. He had over 60 albums and arguably was the most popular session player on the West Coast. for Jerry's salute to fellow Muskogeean and music legend, Barney Kessel.
Ray Charles is the story of the American Dream. A poor blind black boy in the South without parents, was able to climb the social ladder to a mansion in Beverly Hills, where he died at home on 6-10-04. Listen, below, as Jerry remembers Ray Charles...the man and his music. (Music: Baby Won't You Please Come Home, Atlantic Records, ASCAP)
Windows Media Version

this link for the Official Ray Charles Website
Jack Paar left behind many fond memories of the birth of the TV Talk Show. CLICK HERE for Jerry's tribute to Jack.
If you're old enough to remember Captain Kangaroo, then you're a member of a very good group of people. Remember Mr. Green Jeans, Mr. Moose and Bunny Rabbit? Oh, don't forget the black & white TV we had to watch it on. The good old days, Yeh! Now he's gone, but never will he be forgotten. CLICK HERE for a full story on the career and life of Bob Keeshan. CLICK HERE for Captain Kangaroo memorabilia. Remember the show theme song? CLICK HERE to listen.
Art Carney, beloved co-star with Jackie Gleason in the still syndicated TV series, the Honeymooners, passed away on November 11, 2003. CLICK HERE for Jerry's tribute to Art.

Bobby Hatfield, Righteous Brother (bottom in album cover photo), passed away on November 5, 2003. CLICK HERE for Jerry's tribute to Bobby.

 

 

Johnny Cash passed away from complications of diabetes on September 12, 2003. CLICK HERE for Jerry's tribute to Johnny.

Jerry salutes girl watchers  and remembers Barry White. LISTEN Songs: Pretty Woman - Roy Orbison (Monument Records, BMI), Girl Watcher - Ojays (Capitol Records- Ascap), You Are the First, My Last, My Everything - Barry White (Def Soul Records, BMI).

Gene McFall has made a good career out of dong Will Rogers impersonations. As a fellow Oklahoman, Will Rogers is one of my heroes, naturally. One Night shortly before the election in 2000, Gene Called me from Claremore, Oklahoma. It was a perfect fit, Will Rogers as a pundit before the Presidential debate that night between George Bush and Al Gore. CLICK HERE to listen.

 

Gene and his wife have written a Will Rogers cookbook. To order it, CLICK HERE.

Related program: Clem McSpadden, a relative of Will Rogers and a well known political and cowboy figure in his own right, talks to Jerry about the death of Bodacious the Bull. CLICK HERE to listen.

Check out Jerry's ELVIS EXCLUSIVE page with multi-media, including Elvis Cam from Graceland, links to the "Official Elvis" site and links to a recorded audio of Elvis in concert in Las Vegas and other places!

 

 

CLICK HERE FOR MORE BOB HOPEBob Hope passed away from complications of pneumonia on July 28, 2003. Two months after May 29th, 2003, when he celebrated his 100th birthday. CLICK HERE for Jerry's tribute to Bob.



Remember Jack Web in Dragnet?
CLICK HERE for Jerry Pippin's DRAGNET ON-DEMAND page.

 

CLICK HERE
for Jerry Pippin's
JFK Remembered. Interviews with listeners and experts on the JFK assassination. Photos and audio clips in Memory of JFK and his presidency. 

Jerry presents his favorite old time radio show, The Shadow. CLICK HERE to read and listen.

 

Jerry talks with Ken Geringer, author of Nobody Told Me. Jerry and Ken talk of the life and times of John Lennon. CLICK HERE to listen to part 1, CLICK HERE to listen to part 2, and CLICK HERE to listen to part 3. Finally, CLICK HERE to listen a return visit to Jerry's KBIX show by Ken. This was recorded off the air in October of 2000. Music: Beatles - Something (BMI - Apple Records )

Nobody Told Me: From Basement Band to Jack and the John Lennon Sessions
by
Ken Geringer
CLICK HERE TO LISTEN
and watch Dolly Parton sing John Lennon's Imagine - a rare and wonderful video.

Remembering John Lennon 2005 - 25 years ago
On December 8, 1980, John Lennon was shot dead outside his posh Manhattan Apartment. Jerry's good friend, David W. Torrence, who lives in Muskogee, Oklahoma as well, has done one of the better salutes to this music ICON. This mp3 half hour program is dedicated to the music of John Lennon. A special program for our IPOD and broadband listeners.

 


 



160kb Broadband Version
Music Credits: (Just Like) Starting Over, Walking on Thin Ice, and Beautiful Boy - EMI Blackwood Music/Capitol Records (BMI)

John Lennon and Paul McCartney planning a Beatles group revival in 1981?
David W. Torrence, a well known Beatles expert and radio disc jockey, talks with Jerry about some startling news released today, 25 years after the death of John Lennon. The possibility of a Beatles Reunion was in the works before the assassination of Lennon is revealed in this discussion between the two air personalities recorded late in the afternoon of December 8, 2005.

 




Jerry has a surprise for fans of the Andy Griffith Show. Interviews, photos, books you can order, and links. CLICK HERE for the ANDY GRIFFITH SHOW page.

Back in 1994, Jerry talked with Michael Flores in Chicago about B Movies. He is a man who knows almost everything anyone needs to know about B movies of the 50s and 60s. We are presenting this interview again simply because it is fun and entertaining. CLICK HERE to enjoy a trip down Memory Lane. Here are some links to some great B-Movie sites: http://www.badmovieplanet.com and http://www.moderntimes.com/palace/b/b.htm

 

 

In 1968, I (Jerry) was at the Riviera Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas and wondering if I should leave radio and try stand up comedy full time. Later I did stand up for several years, but I stayed in radio in 1968 largely due to a conversation I had with Woody Allen. He was appearing at the hotel nightly and I walked up to him in the casino and ask him about stand up comedy as a career. He basically told me it was a tough business and since I was from Oklahoma and not New York and not Jewish that I probably wouldn't make it. I later found out that Woody hated stand up and Las Vegas even more. Woody did stand up very well however. CLICK HERE to listen to one of my favorite monologues from him done in 1965. The saga of the talking Elevator is a classic. Links of interest about Woody:

 
This one has Audio Samples: torp.priv.no/woody.

Flip Wilson used to sleep on the top of cars while breaking into comedy at Florida resorts, because he couldn't afford a room. Later he would be come a huge TV sensation. This memories segment was first broadcast on KVEG AM 840 in Las Vegas (now KXNT) in 1989.

CLICK HERE
to listen as Jerry plays a segment from the Flip Wilson TV show. The Flip Wilson Show was one of the Seventies' most popular and successful variety series, lasting a solid four years. It's almost as if the show slipped from our consciousness as soon as it left the airwaves, very little was written about the man or the series. Perhaps that's because the Flip Wilson led an intensely private life. CLICK HERE for more Flip info. To order Flip Wilson Videos from Amazon CLICK HERE

Madeline Kahn left us at an early age, she was only 57 when she gave into the BIG "C!" We will miss her! The CBS series, Cosby, was her last professional TV job. Her last original episode hit the  air on Dec. 22, 1999. Ben Phillips has put together a great collection of audio and video on Madeline Kahn, CLICK HERE to link up with this page!

 

LISTEN to Memories from Across the Sea. Jerry plays Mitch Miller's 1957 hit "Theme from the Bridge Over The River Kwai." Then talks about an email he received from Tony Glynn, listening from Manchester, England. See message below.

CLICK HERE for the movie review of Bridge Over the River Kwai. Bridge Over the River Kwai books,  available from Amazon.com, Bantam paperback only $4.50.  

Then, Jerry plays, "I'm Going to Set Right Down and Write Myself A Letter,"  by Billy Williams. Billy passed away in Chicago in 1972.

Comments from Tony Glynn on this segment: Liked your use of the theme from Lean's Bridge on the River Kwai, but do you know the significance of that tune? Perhaps many Americans do not. It is called Colonel Bogey, and it is a perfectly proper British military march. But - you know what army life is like - there is a set of soldiers' words to the tune which are decidedly indelicate. The British prisoners whistled it, with their minds on the indelicate version, as an insult to their Japanese captors. Ever since WW2, the British Far East Prisoner of War Association - now a dwindled band, of course - has whistled it on their annual march to the London Cenotaph to honor their comrades who did not return.

Lean was a remarkable man, called "the directors' director" and famous for his painstaking approach but he got into pictures in defiance of his family who were Quakers and not at all in favor of theatres or movies. In his early days as an editor, he made such a hash of editing one movie, Those Charming People, that he was fired. It was based on a book by Michael Arlen who was, surprise, surprise, a Manchester man, a great best-seller in the 1920's but now totally forgotten. Within ten years, however, Lean was on the way to become one of the great British directors. The moral, I suppose, is when you've been slapped down get up and try again.

 

  • Muskogee Memories from 1951 and 1947. This program segment was first heard on KBIX Radio in Muskogee, Oklahoma in the summer of 2001. Jerry plays two tunes in this nostalgic look at the years 1951 and 1947. The London based Mantivani Orchestra does a salute to Charmaine from 1951, and then Dorothy Shay (not Doris Day, as noted by Rosie, a listener to our show) sings a hokey version of Feudin' and Fightin' which made the hit parade in 1947. The latter tune is a far cry from her first major hit, Sentimental Journey. In this segment, Jerry remembers 1947 baseball when it was indeed the national sport, and the first step it took to cross the color line. 1951 is perhaps best remembered for many great movies such as the Oscar winner, All About Eve.

    Comments on this segment provided by our listener in Manchester, England and past member of the Editorial Staff for the Sunday Mirror, Tony Glynn:

    "...don't like them ornery neighbors
    down by the creek;
    we'll be plumb out of neighbors
    next week"
    -Feudin' an' Fussin'

    Ooops, pardon me but, last night, I had a few nostalgic chuckles with the Jerry Pippin Show's revival of that classic from the days of my smooth-cheeked youth, Feudin' an' Fussin' and the well-remembered music of the great Mike Mahoney's Orchestra with all those strings.

    I must explain that, long ago when I first corresponded with the late science-fiction writer Marion Zimmer Bradley, she lived in a tiny Texas town called Rochester with her husband Robert and their small baby, David.
    Marion had married at 19 and she and Robert lived there because of Robert's job but, apparently, they were pretty well considered outsiders, Marion being from Albany, NY and Robert from Chicago. Years later, when I finally met her, Marion told me life in Rochester was downright dull and I suspect the Texans regarded them as "damn Yankees". They put out a good little amateur magazine devoted to science-fiction through which I got to know them. Both Marion and I wanted to write professionally but we both had yet to make a professional sale. Eventually, Marion became a leading author in the field and, after a sad history of poor health, her death occurred in '99, just after a TV movie was made of her blockbuster novel The Mists of Avelon.

    Well, away back then, Mantovani and his Orchestra played regularly on BBC radio. They were a radio fixture for years and very popular, selling many records. One day, I received a letter from Marion, a great music-lover, saying she had managed to hear an orchestra broadcasting from London whose performance she greatly enjoyed. She said she didn't properly hear the name of its leader, but was something like "Mike Mahoney." This puzzled me for a time, then it dawned on me that she was referring to Mantovani. If he ever had a first name, I never heard it, he was always just "Mantovani" but, thereafter, he was Mike Mahoney to me.

    The danger with putting a nostalgic segment on the web is that you're likely to get a sentimental goof like me good and hooked and cause me to bend your ear something chronic. Take the reference to All About Eve, for instance. That is one of my many favorites from the days when movies had some quality to them and were not yet swamped by violence and over-the-top special effects. All About Eve had a truly tremendous cast, including that Limey smoothie and sometime Manchester man George Sanders - he once lived right around the corner from my old home - the caustic-tongued but always lovable Thelma Ritter and a huge favorite of mine, the wonderful Celeste Holm. But did you know that, on their very first meeting before shooting, Bette Davis insulted Miss Holm so grievously that they never spoke afterward for the rest of Miss Davis's life. So, though they play best friends in the movie, off the set, there was nothing but frosty silence between them. A sad state of affairs between two talented women.

    Movies are a passion with me and, this week, I gave a talk to the cine and video society on some aspects of the work of the British director David Lean, showing excerpts from four of his movies but leaving the big productions of his later years such as Bridge on the River Kwai, Dr Zhivago and Lawrence of Arabia for a later date. I stuck to earlier work done in the British Isles like Brief Encounter, Great Expectations , Hobson's Choice and Ryan's Daughter, set in Ireland, which came close to ruining Lean's career but is still a powerful picture.

    Anyway, what I'm trying to say before I run off at the mouth any further is that I like the Jerry Pippin Show so keep it coming. It's chock-full of good stuff - controversial, too. Its attitude to the Bush administration might not sit easily with those of a Republican complexion, but it makes for highly interesting reading over on this side of the water.

    If you're in the market for five cats (strictly on the quiet and without the sister's knowledge, of course) I'm your man. All the very best to you both - Tony.

    PS: With the cats, I'll throw in that eye patch for free.

 

CLICK HERE to hear Jerry Pippin talk with world famous rodeo announcer, Clem McSpadden, about Bodacious the Bull and other famous rodeo characters.

 

 

 

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 A look at local TV and Radio in the good old days.

 

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