YOU'RE THE TOP! #6 MAMIE VAN DOREN

Harmonica Heroes #2 SONNY BOY WILLIAMSON

Another clip found on youtube. Sonny Boy Williamson plays

"Nine Below Zero" with Otis Span on the piano. Greeeat!

SPORTING HEROES #6 DONALD SUTHERLAND ELLIOT GOULD

M.A.S.H.

1970 - Robert Altman

FOUND ON YOUTUBE #2 - RAY CHARLES & ARETHA

A magnificent duet from 1975

FOUND ON THE INTERNET - DINAH WASHINGTON

Fabulous documentary celebrating the life and times of Dinah Washington

Links Here

RECORD OF THE WEEK: BEGIN THE BEGUINE

20 Classic Dance Numbers From The 30s & 40s

Miss Brown To You - Billie Holiday

When I Take My Sugar To Tea - Boswell Sisters

Blue Skies - Frank Sinatra

Begin The Beguine - Artie Shaw

Frenesi - Artie Shaw

The Wedding Samba - Andrews Sisters

Rhapsody In Rhumba - Cab Calloway & His Orchestra

Stop! The Red Light's On - Anita O'Day

Let's Have Another Cup of Coffee - Glenn Miller Orchestra

Let Me Off Uptown - Anita O'Day

Goody Goody - Benny Goodman & Helen Ward

Bounce Me Brother - With a Solid Four Andrews Sisters

Picklin' The Cabbage - Cab Calloway & His Orchestra

Shuffle Off to Buffalo - Boswell Sisters

BoogieWoogie - Tommy Dorsey

Undecided - Ella Fitzgerald

Doing The Reactionary - Cab Calloway & His Orchestra

A Mellow Bit Of Rhythm - Andy Kirk

Wacky Dust - Ella Fitzgerald

On The Sunny Side Of The Street - Tommy Dorsey

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TAKE THE MONEY AND RUN #2 GROUCHO MARX

YOU'RE THE TOP! #5JAYNE MANSFIELD

SPORTING HEROES #5 HARPO MARX

FOUND ON YOUTUBE #1

PEARL BAILEY AND ANDY WILLIAMS

Give Me The Simple Life

I had never fully appreciated Andy Williams before, but just look at how he complements Pearl Bailey here. She is so funny and so wonderfully relaxed. Her timing is impeccable. Note the way she introduces the song and comes in right on the button. This is a little gem!

NEIL YOUNG- DON'T LET IT BRING YOU DOWN

1971 Performance of "Don't Let It Bring You Down"

RECORD OF THE WEEK: BABY IT'S COLD OUTSIDE!

BABY IT'S COLD OUTSIDE!

20 Christmas Classics

White Christmas - Drifters

Here Comes Santa Claus - Elvis Presley

Boogie Woogie Santa Claus - Lionel Hampton & his Orchestra

Jingle Jangle - The Penguins

Mr. Santa's Boogie - The Marshalls

Santa Bring My Baby - Elvis Presley

Baby, It's Cold Outside - Ella Fitzgerald & Louis Jordan

Sonny Boy's Christmas Blues - Sonny Boy Williamson

Christmas Morning Blues - Titus Turner

Christmas Time Blues - Roy Milton

Zat You, Santa Claus - Louis Armstrong

Merry Christmas Baby - Chuck Berry

Blue Christmas - Elvis Presley

Merry Merry Christmas Baby - The Tune Weavers

Christmas In Jail - The Youngsters

Hey Santa Claus - The Moonglows

Boogie Woogie Santa Claus - Mabel Scott

Rudolph The Red Nosed Reindeer - The Cadillacs

Cool Yule - Louis Armstrong

Merry Christmas Baby - Lionel Hampton

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THE ART OF BLUE NOTE #5

1963 My Point Of View - Herbie Hancock

Design & Photo: Reid Miles

STEELY DAN

The old days with Denny Diaz, David Palmer and Jeff "Skunk" Baxter.

SPORTING HEROES #4 PAUL NEWMAN

GREAT TRAIN JOURNEYS #3 CLAUDETTE COLBERT

From New York To Palm Beach

1942 Palm Beach Story

RECORD OF THE WEEK: MERRY CHRISTMAS BABY

A Seasonal Selection

1. White Christmas - Bing Crosby
2. The Christmas Song - Nat King Cole
3. The Christmas Blues - Dean Martin
4. I'll Keep You Warm In December - Peggy Lee
5. Santa Baby - Eartha Kit
6. Blue Christmas - Elvis Presley
7. Christmas Time Again - Peggy Lee
8. Frosty The Snow Man - Patti Page
9. It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas -Perry Como
10. Let It Snow - Dean Martin
11. Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas - Judy Garland
12. Snow - Bing Crosby
13. Marshmallow World - Ella Fitzgerald And Bing Crosby
14. I'll Be Home For Christmas - Elvis Presley
15. Little Boy Santa Forgot - Nat King Cole
16. Merry Christmas Baby - Dodie Stevens
17. Merry Christmas - Peggy Lee
18. A Dreamer's Holiday - Ella Fitzgerald And Bing Crosby
19. Rudolph The Red-Nosed Reindeer - Ella Fitzgerald And Bing Crosby
20. Xmas Song For You - Mills Brother

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ART BLAKEY LEE MORGAN JOHN GILMORE

BUHANIA'S DREAM

The Jazz Messengers - featuring Lee Morgan & John Gilmore

TAKE THE MONEY AND RUN! #1 BUSTER KEATON

Buster Keaton - Smirnoff Vodka

SPORTING HEROES #3 MARTIN & LEWIS

1953 "The Caddy"

JONI MITCHELL - CHELSEA MORNING

One of her best. It's always on my playlist, when I travel.

GREAT TRAIN JOURNEYS #2 THE ANDREWS SISTERS

1941 "Buck Privates"

THE ART OF BLUE NOTE #4

1963  Good Gracious! Lou Donaldson 

Photo: Ronnie Braithwaite Design: Reid Miles

HARMONICA HEROES #1 SONNY TERRY

Sonny Terry & Brownie McGhee - Hootin' The Blues

MASTERS OF COOL #3 DEAN MARTIN

Dino - perhaps the coolest dude of them all!

GREAT TRAIN JOURNEYS #1 MARILYN MONROE

i

1959 Chicago To Miami

"Some Like It Hot"

SPORTING HEROES #2 JUDY GARLAND

MASTERS OF COOL #2 JOHN CASSAVETES

Opening Night 1977

THE ART OF BLUE NOTE #3

Cool Struttin' Sonny Clark 1958

Design: Reid Miles Photo: Francis Wolff

A BIT OF WESTERN SWING

Tommy Duncan playing "Stay A Little Longer"

OH WHAT A NIGHT! #1

25th July 1967 Fillmore Auditorum. You could catch The Yardbirds, James Cotton and Ritchie Havens. At the weekend, the Doors were the headliners. Great days!

SPORTING HEROES #1 ROBERT DE NIRO

Cathy Moriarty taking tips from crazy golf champion Robert De Niro in "Raging Bull"

YOU'RE THE TOP! #4 KIM NOVAK

I recently watched "Vertigo" yet again and just had to post this photo of the wonderful Kim Novak. This is certainly one of those films that just gets better with each viewing and has just moved up in my list of greatest films ever made.

RICHIE HAVENS - TUPELO HONEY/JUST LIKE A WOMAN

A superb performance from Richie Havens on the BBC show "Old Grey Whistle Test"featuring Van Morrison's "Tupelo Honey" and Dylan's "Just Like A Woman"

THE ART OF BLUE NOTE #2

Photo: Francis Wolff. Design: Reid Miles

YOU'RE THE TOP! #3 MARILYN MONROE

Marilyn entertaining the troops in South Korea 1954

BILKO RECRUITS A JAZZ COMBO

Bilko finds that he is blessed with a famous jazz musician in his platoon. He now needs to sign up the rest of the band!

STEELY DAN IN LONDON

The band was on top form for their 2009 London gig at the Hammersmith Apollo

Elliot Randall mad a surprise appearance during the encore, as the band played the original arrangement of Reelin' In The Years.

THE ART OF BLUE NOTE #1

Cover photo and design: Reid Miles Album recorded February 25th 1964

YOU'RE THE TOP! #2 AUDREY HEPBURN

Iconic star of the sixties, Audrey Hepburn was the dress designers' dream. Here is my favourite photo of her, looking far from glamorous, but very natural:

E.C. WITH D & B

Back in the early seventies, the Brits were splitting from their bands in favour of touring the States with the newly emerging white soul acts. Joe Cocker's famous Mad Dogs & Englishmen tour with Leon Russell was perhaps the blueprint for this. Delaney and Bonnie became known as the most soulful of the new blue-eyed soul bands, Bonnie had cut her teeth with the Ike & Tina revue, as part of the Ikettes. Eric Clapton teamed up with them to good effect and here is a clip of them performing acoustically on British T.V.

MASTERS OF COOL #1 TONY CURTIS

GYM CHIC
I know that I must get myself off to the gym, but keep finding excuses for staying at the computer. I have just found this photo of Tony Curtis and Janet Leigh working out. Now I know why I can't go to the gym, I need a new outfit. Now, where do you get sock like those?

BOBBY DARIN "MORE"

Bobby Darin was the most versatile and classy performer to emerge from the rock & roll era. In his short life, he was successful in a wide range of musical genres. From the simple pop hits such as "Splish Splash" to country songs such as "18 Yellow Roses" and from swing numbers like "Mack The Knife" to protest songs like "Simple Song Of Freedom" Bobby Darin made his mark as one of the all-time greats. Here is a little video of my family fooling about circa 1960 set to one of his best swing numbers.

YOU'RE THE TOP! #1 NATALIE WOOD

November 28th 1981 and Natalie Wood died from drowning, just off the Los Angeles coast by Catalina Island. She appeared in some key films, during my early teens and made an enormous impact. Rebel Without A Cause, Splendor In The Grass, The Searchers, Gypsy and West Side Story were among the key films of the late fifties/early sixties. Natalie was in a class of her own and will be long remembered. Here is a classy shot of her:

DUSTY SINGS MARIE KNIGHT

I've been listening to a lot of Dusty Springfield recently and am fast coming to the conclusion that she is vastly underrated. I am now putting her up there in the top 5 soul singer category. Here she is singing "You Better Run" which was originally recorded by gospel singer Marie Knight:

THE COLONEL PLAYS GOLF

Where better to start off my newly created blog than with a clip from my all-time favourite T.V. show. Here we have a guest appearance from the legendary Sam Snead, who gets involved with Bilko's scam to convince the colonel that he can actually play golf!