AL DAVIS

was for the underdog, as he noted on occassion. He was the  Oakland Raiders owner, coach, general manager and much more for almost 50 years. . He was a true character, in the good sense – a throwback with his ‘Fifties’ pompadour, jumpsuits and all. Though he was a man for the working class, which is why the folks of Oakland loved him, even after he took the football team to Los Angeles for 10 years before coming back. Davis may have lost the winning magic at the end but he will always be remembered for those ‘black and white’ ‘just win baby’ teams of the Sixties thru the 90s and his unique, individual, colorful character uncommon anymore…

Autumn Leaves performer ROGER WILLIAMS, long-time piano player extraordinaire, with the top selling piano solo of all time, AUTUMN LEAVES, passed on after a long and ‘fighting’ bout with pancreatic cancer. Never seen anyone so tough as Williams, who proudly worked through his illness, with a busy schedule, including his marathon performances. 87 years young. See more at /RANDOM NOTES, where we let Roger live on.. as he always will..

Actress Patricia Neal Dies at 84

Legendary actress Patricia Neal died Sunday at her home on Martha’s Vineyard. She was 84.

Neal reportedly had been suffered from lung cancer. “She faced her final illness as she had all of the many trials she endured: with indomitable grace, good humor, and a great deal of her self-described stubbornness,” the family said in a statement, according to Reuters.

Neal, who won an Oscar for her work in the 1963 film “Hud” alongside Paul Newman, starred with numerous Hollywood veterans, including John Wayne, Ronald Reagan, and Tyrone Powers.

Neal suffered several family tragedies. She had five children with British writer Roald Dahl, but two of them died in childhood. When she was pregnant with their fifth child in 1965 she had three massive strokes and was in a coma for three weeks.

“I almost died many times from broken hearts – when my daughter Olivia died, when my baby son Theo was hit by a car, and when I had my strokes. There were many who didn’t think I would pull through,” said Neal in her biography. “I’ve learned many lessons in life, but the most important is this – be tenacious and determined, even in old age.”

MITCH MILLER

‘Mr Singalong’ & Top Record Producer at 99

Mitch Miller, an influential record producer who became a hugely popular recording artist and an unlikely television star a half century ago by leading a choral group in familiar old songs and inviting people to sing along, died on Saturday in Manhattan. He was 99.

 

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Mitch Miller on his NBC show, “Sing Along With Mitch,” in about 1964. Its diet of old favorites was an alternative to rock ‘n’ roll. More Photos »

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Mr. Miller with Louis Armstrong in New York’s Central Park in the 1950s. More Photos »

His daughter Margaret Miller Reuther confirmed the death Monday morning, saying her father had died after a short illness at Lenox Hill Hospital. Mr. Miller lived in Manhattan.

Mr. Miller, a Rochester native who was born on the Fourth of July, had been an accomplished oboist and was still a force in the recording industry when he came up with the idea of recording old standards with a chorus of some two dozen male voices and printing the lyrics on album covers.

The “Sing Along With Mitch” album series, which began in 1958, was an immense success, finding an eager audience among older listeners looking for an alternative to rock ’n’ roll. Mitch Miller and the Gang serenaded them with chestnuts like “Home on the Range,” “That Old Gang of Mine,” “I’ll Take You Home Again, Kathleen” and “It’s a Long Way to Tipperary.”

When the concept was adapted for television in 1961, with the lyrics appearing at the bottom of the screen, Mr. Miller, with his beaming smile and neatly trimmed mustache and goatee, became a national celebrity.

By then he had established himself as a hit maker for Columbia Records and a career shaper for singers like Tony Bennett, Rosemary Clooney, Johnny Mathis, Doris Day, Patti Page and Frankie Laine. First at Mercury Records and then at Columbia, he helped define American popular music in the postwar, pre-rock era, carefully matching singers with songs and choosing often unorthodox but almost always catchy instrumental accompaniment.

Mr. Bennett’s career took off after Mr. Miller persuaded him to record the ballad “Because of You,” backing him with a lush orchestral arrangement by Percy Faith. It reached No. 1 on the pop charts in 1951.

Ms. Clooney was making a mere $50 a recording session when Mr. Miller asked her to record “Come On-a My House,” an oddity based on an Armenian folk melody written by the playwright and novelist William Saroyan and his cousin Ross Bagdasarian, who later went on to create Alvin and the Chipmunks. Ms. Clooney was dubious. “I damn near fell on the floor,” she recalled.

They had a heated argument. But in the end Ms. Clooney agreed to record the song, and it became a giant hit, establishing her as a major artist.

“Nothing happened to me until I met Mitch,” she later said.

By the end of the 1950s Mr. Miller’s eye and ear for talent and songs had been critical in making Columbia the top-selling record company in the nation.  MORE

Art Linkletter, TV Host, Dies at 97

By WILLIAM GRIMES

Published: May 26, 2010

The death was confirmed by Art Hershey, a son-in-law.

From his early days as an announcer on local radio and a roving broadcaster at state fairs, Mr. Linkletter showed a talent for ingratiating himself with his subjects and getting them to open up, often with hilarious results.

He was particularly adept at putting small children at ease, which he did regularly on a segment of “House Party,” a reliably amusing question-and-answer session that provided the material for his best-selling book “Kids Say the Darndest Things!”

Famous Poster Came Out the Year of Art's Birth, 1913, for sale here

Television critics and intellectuals found the Linkletter persona bland and his popularity unfathomable. “There is nothing greatly impressive, one way or the other, about his appearance, mannerisms, or his small talk,” one newspaper critic wrote. Another referred to his “imperishable banality.”

Millions of Americans disagreed. They responded to his wholesome, friendly manner and upbeat appeal. Women, who made up three-quarters of the audience for “House Party,” which was broadcast in the afternoon, loved his easy, enthusiastic way with children.

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Editorial Comment: I came to appreciate Art Linkletter greatly in recent years. I liked him for his positive, timeless outlook, helping seniors, living life to the fullest, life extension, a man of many talents. What he was most known for, his TV show ‘Kids Say The Darndest Things’ may have been a bit contrived and pre-arranged when we look back, but perhaps that was the programming then; again, I liked the man who overcame tragedy to be one of the last Will Rogers, if you will. He backed up his healthy approach to life, living 97 years. I was hoping he might go on forever; no such luck. Who will replace him? Steve Allen was not as positive re. living in today’s society yet told it like it was and I admired him for that, when most people todaoy go with the current, often classless trends; we lost him early , at 78, a few years ago. Paul Harvey left us acouple years ago; they tried but nobody could replace him on his radio show, though Huckaby is making a valiant effort on a similar project. Your comments welcomed… BK

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