Lucy And Desi Get Roasted

A huge event for the stars of I Love Lucy took place at the Beverly Hilton Hotel November 23, 1958 in celebration of the Friars Club 10th Anniversary. These testimonial dinners eventually were called “roasts”. Making an appearance at this “roast” was Dean Martin who spoke at length and also sang a parody of “Volare” about Lucy & Desi accompanied by Ken Lane. There were also featured appearances by George Burns, Art Linkletter, George Murphy, Tony Martin, Milton Berle and several others. One of those several others was a comedian named Harry Einstein. His stage name was "Paryakarkas". The "roast" would be his last performance. Anywhere. Literally. During the night he collapsed onto Milton Berle's shoulder and died. A "private label" recording of this dinner was released sometime after and featured some hilarious performances but not the collapse of Mr. Einstein. It does open with an announcement telling of the death. Here is that bootleg, I mean, "private label" recording. Here is “The Friars Club Presents The Lucille Ball And Desi Arnaz Testimonial Dinner”. Enjoy!

The Friars Club Presents The Lucille Ball And Desi Arnaz Testimonial Dinner

BONUS:
Here's a newspaper article all about the roast and the sudden demise of Harry Einstein. (click on pics for larger images)

Lucille Ball's Comic Persona

Following the Bill Frawley post from last week, here is an issue of the 1950s comic caracterization of the classic show, "I Love Lucy". This is the 6th issue of the series from 1955 and features some funny story lines involving our favorite red head and her friends. Enjoy!

I Love Lucy Comics Issue 6 (1955)

Sing It, Fred!

There aren't many people in the world who don't know who Fred of Fred and Ethel are. If you were to ask those same people if they knew who Bill Frawley was, you might not get as a big of a response. Bill Frawley was the inimitable actor who portrayed the lovable landlord for the Riccardos. Most of his life was spent in show business and he appeared in over a hundred films, but he will always be remembered for his role as Fred Mertz. As a child, he formed a vaudeville act with his younger brother, Paul. Six months later, he wrote a script named Fun in a Vaudeville Agency which earned him over five hundred dollars. He then moved to Denver, Colorado, where he was hired as a singer at a café. He met and teamed up with pianist, Franz Rath. The two men relocated to San Francisco with their act, "A Man, a Piano, and a Nut." During his vaudeville career, Frawley introduced and helped popularize the songs "My Mammy" , "My Melancholy Baby", and "Carolina in the Morning". By 1951, the 64-year-old Frawley had appeared in over 100 movies but was starting to find film role offers becoming fewer. When he heard that Desi Arnaz and Lucille Ball were casting a new television situation comedy and were looking for someone to play the part of the , miserly landlord Fred Mertz. Gale Gordon was the first choice to play the character. Fortunately for Frawley, he was unavailable due to a prior commitment and the rest is history! In 1958, using his success from "I Love Lucy", he recorded many of his old stage songs on an album. I share that album of classics with you now. Here is "Bill Frawley Sings the Old Ones." Enjoy!

Bill Frawley Sings The Old Ones

PS - Sorry about the lack of posts lately. I have been extremely busy and will be for the next month or so. I will do my best to keep posting new things but it may not be as frequent as usual.

The Late Night Wars

In case you have been living under a rock the past week, Jay Leno and Conan O'Brien are in a battle royal over the coveted 11:35 PM time slot on NBC TV. I don't usually get political on this blog but in my opinion NBC is screwing Conan royally. I am a bit biased as I have friends who work at The Tonight Show who will lose their jobs because of this, but I really don't understand why NBC is so in love with Jay Leno. Conan has not been given a decent chance at the helm of the greatest late night show in history and he's being ousted for the return of someone who failed miserably in a brand new show. There are those who say that Conan's ratings were bad as well but even NBC has stated that that may be from the weak lead in due to people turning their channels to get away from Leno at 10:00. There are also those people that are voicing their opinion saying that these two guys are going to both make out in the end as Conan stands to make a huge profit if his contract gets pulled. But let's think about everyone who works for Conan. They just recently packed up their lives and their families' lives and moved from New York to California. Now, a mere months later, they are left with no job. Not to mention that they will not be making a huge sum of money the way Conan will if it all falls apart. I think NBC is making a big mistake. All of this makes me miss the days when it was a class act. I am of course talking about the reign of Johnny Carson. He was the true King of Late Night and no one can take his place. During the Carson years, the Tonight Show was more than just an advertisement for the latest movie or tv show. It was an honest to goodness form of entertainment. People were invited on the show because Johnny wanted them on. Not because they had a new movie or a new sit-com or even a new record. It was just people that were on because Johnny felt that they were interesting and people wanted to see them. It was a lot cooler and as far as I'm concerned, it will never be the same. In 1974, Casablanca Records issued a collection of some of the best moments of the Tonight Show on a two record set entitled, "Here's Johnny: Magic Moments From The Tonight Show". It features a roster of guest stars that would rival any late night show: Lenny Bruce, Groucho Marx, Ike & Tina Turner, Bette Midler, Lucille Ball, Pearl Baily, The Smothers Brothers, George Carlin, Billie Holiday, Glen Campbell, George Burns, Buddy Hackett, Jack Benny, Dean Martin, Desi Arnez and more. Here is that two record set for you to enjoy!

Here's Johnny! Magic Moments From The Tonight Show
Here's Johnny! Magic Moments From The Tonight Show Part 2

Let Me Tell You A Story

Today we have a very interesting album to share with you. It's entitled "My Favorite Story". I picked this album up from an antique store about 5 or 6 years ago. They had boxes of comedy records that they just wanted to get rid of. They were all in mint condition and were products of a long defunct radio station. The owner made me an offer I could not refuse and I took the whole lot home for next to nothing. Upon going through the records at home, I came across this one. The cover really intrigued me in that it had the faces of some of the most famous people of the radio era on the cover. The most interesting to me was Groucho Marx. However, other celebrities such as Jack Benny, Bob Hope, Phil Silvers, Danny Thomas, Lucille Ball, Joey Bishop, George Jessel, Gene Kelley, Red Skeleton, Art Linkletter and Jimmy Stewart all graced the cover. Upon listing to the album I was thrilled to learn that each of those stars had their own funny story to tell. Kind of like a book of jokes read by famous people. I loved it and have shared it with many of my friends. Now I share it with you. Hosted by the master of ceremonies, Bing Crosby, here is "My Favorite Story". Enjoy!

My Favorite Story