"I remember my Grandpa, his hat in his hand/The 'Star Spangled Banner' being played by the band/The roar of the crowd as the pitcher took aim/When baseball was just a game." I grew up in Maryland in the ‘40s and ‘50s. My paternal grandparents lived in Beltsville, a small town … [Read more...]
BASEBALL, MUSIC, RADIO & MORE
Vibrant Music Scene In North Berkshire Spawns Graceful CD (2002)
Windsor Lake, the glorious new CD by The Flying Garbanzos, is the result of the kind of offhanded collaboration that can only thrive in a rich and diverse music scene. In the last decade, that scene has been quietly cultivated in North Berkshire. Dale Ott, 50, started playing … [Read more...]
Hail The Reluctant Hero (2003)
Larry Doby passed away in June at the age of 79. Casual baseball fans may not recognize the name. I met him at Williams College last year when he participated in a panel discussion about baseball. It was a thrill for me, because he was one of my heroes. Doby played most of his … [Read more...]
Rosanne Cash Brings New Voice, New Songs To Latest CD (2003)
Despite eleven #1 singles in the 1980s, and three critically acclaimed albums in the 1990s, Rosanne Cash didn’t think of herself as a singer. From the age of nine, she just wanted to be a writer. Afraid of the downside of fame that she saw her father Johnny Cash experience, she … [Read more...]
Remembering Radio (2004)
Legendary radio personality Eddie Gallaher died recently at the age of 89. For nearly 60 years, he practically owned the morning airwaves in the Washington, DC area. My mother told me about Gallaher’s death during my visit with her in Easton, Maryland over the Christmas … [Read more...]
The Internet Archive Time Machine (2007)
As I have noted in several articles on this site, I grew up in the Washington, DC area. I was born in 1941, just several weeks before the bombing of Pearl Harbor. My father was in the US Army, and in 1944, he was sent to the Pacific Islands. My mother and I moved in with my … [Read more...]
Dignifying The Lives Of Ordinary People (2007)
Since last Christmas, my wife and I have been totally absorbed in the series of films often referred to as the "Up" movies. The seven films, all but the first produced and directed by Michael Apted, document the lives of 14 British boys and girls, all born in 1956, who are from a … [Read more...]
Young @ Heart (2007)
My wife and I moved to the small city of Northampton, Massachusetts, in 1999. It's on the Connecticut River, about 100 miles west of Boston. We actually live in Florence, a distinct village with its own post office. But when we get our property tax bill, it's from … [Read more...]
Gershwin And Berlin Never Sounded Better (2007)
"They all laughed at Christopher Columbus/When he said the world was round/They all laughed when Edison recorded sound." -from "They All Laughed," by George and Ira Gershwin I am playing, for the umpteenth time, a CD that I bought several weeks ago. The singer opens track … [Read more...]
Much More Than Meets The Ear (2007)
Knowing my penchant for hyperbole, my best friend is fond of saying, "I've told you a million times not to exaggerate." Well, here I go again. Andre Previn may be the greatest all-around musician since the advent of recorded music. Born in Berlin in 1929, he escaped Nazi … [Read more...]
Mancini’s Peter Gunn Score Launched Dozens Of Careers (2007)
On a late summer evening in 1958, at Radio Recorders, a legendary recording studio in Santa Monica, California, a mild-mannered 34-year old conductor, pipe in mouth, gives the downbeat, and a guitarist, also 34 years old, starts grinding out a heavy, rolling ostinato. Two bars … [Read more...]
No Empty Chairs At Milton Hall (2007)
Open Mic In Milltown, a poem by Joe Manning Main Street, Friday evening. I count ninety-six windows in the tall gray building; all are dark except one which reflects the half moon. Two boys in college windbreakers hang out by the clothing store. Several people … [Read more...]
You Can’t Win If You Don’t Shoot (2009)
On the evening of Valentine's Day 1963, Calvert High School lost to La Plata High School by the score of 4-1. The two Southern Maryland schools weren't playing soccer, baseball or hockey; they were playing basketball. I know, because my brother, then called Bobby Manning, was a … [Read more...]
Making “Misty”: The Legendary Johnny Mathis Recording (2010)
"I heard Erroll Garner play it when I was in my teens. There were no lyrics yet. I blurted out, ‘Mr. Garner, I am going to record your song if I ever make a record.'" -Johnny Mathis "Look at me/I'm as helpless as a kitten up a tree." I was sitting in my favorite diner … [Read more...]
The Greatest Hustler (2010)
"The Nats swept their second doubleheader in five days when they defeated the Kansas City Athletics at Griffith Stadium last night, 5-4 and 10-9, before 7291 spectators. The double victory boosted the Nats into a third-place tie with the Boston Red Sox. The second game saw the … [Read more...]
The Courriers: Still Carrying On (2014)
"When he (Pete Seeger) sang 'Wimoweh,' and he got the whole audience to sing, I had an epiphany. I knew that this is what I wanted to hear, what I wanted to know more about, and what I wanted to play." -Mark Max, co-founding member of the Courriers "We did a gig at the Bitter … [Read more...]