Tuning in…
Tuning in…
Castaway
1 appearance
Singer who sold 100M+ records and cleared 6'5.5" high jump, chose showbiz over Olympics, popular for 25+ years.
On the island
Eight records
I'm a big fan of Roberta Flack and anything she does. She there are a few people who sing, people that I've grown up listening to, like Ella Fitzgerald, Sara Vaughan, Nat King Cole, Peggy Lee, and Roberta Flack is in that same company. Whatever they do, they do it very, very well.
Chicago Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Georg Solti
I travel a great deal and I carry a a satchel of tapes. This particular prelude to Tristan and the Solda is by George Salty and the Chicago Symphony Orchestra.
I was greatly influenced by Ella Fitzgerald, not only by her beautiful voice, but the great artistry that she sang and still sings with. She hasn't been well lately, and I'm sure all the people that have loved her wish her well. She appeared in a couple of movies, and in the one that I chose, Pete Kelly's Blues, she sings the title song.
Well, I had the pleasure of working with Count Basie on two or three occasions. Uh he was a wonderful man, lots of fun. But the fascinating thing about him was his music and and his band and the fact that he kept his band together for so many years when bands were were out of style and what have you.
Well, my favorite entertainer of all time is Lena Horne. I grew up watching her, and I think the most magnetic time in my life, the time that I was most vulnerable, was when I first went to New York, made my first recordings, and I met a bass player by the name of George DeVivier, who was working for Lena Horne.
Other than coming to Great Britain, the place I like to go best is to South America and especially to Brazil because of the music and the people. And I have a favorite motion picture that was set in Brazil called Orfeo Negro. And there's a beautiful song from Orfeo Negro called Mañada Carnaval.
When I was in New York, for the first year that I was there recording, there was a schedule on the blackboard of the people who were coming in the studio after you and before you and what have you. And one day I stayed around to listen to Mahalia Jackson sing, and it was a a joy and a thrill.
LujonFavourite
Henry Mancini and His Orchestra
This is my favorite Henry Mancini song. He wrote this as an instrumental, and later they put some words to it. Uh I think it's called Slow Hot Win, but uh this is from the original instrumental and it's called Luzon.
In conversation
Presenter asks
1:34Do you like being alone?
I like being alone a lot. In fact, when I'm not working, I I spend a lot of time alone. Of course, I play a lot of golf, but that's in a way being alone. It's a sport that that you have to do yourself. It's not a team sport. And when I'm home, I spend a great deal of time in my home doing absolutely nothing sometimes. And I had to learn that. It's it's not easy to learn to do nothing.
Presenter asks
3:58Do you come from a musical background?
Well, my father was a pretty good pianist and a very good singer. Raising seven kids, of course, he didn't get a chance to be heard very much outside the home. But he played at home every night that I can remember. We had an old beat up piano that he bought and uh actually had to dismantle it to get it in the house. Every day uh he'd try to teach me a new song, just songs that he knew.
Presenter asks
7:35How did your athletic career start?
Well, I guess most young kids uh get involved in athletics. We had to get involved because that was part of our school system. Uh we had to run and jump and take these gymnastic classes and what have you. And I just sort of could jump a little higher than than most of the other boys. So uh over the years I developed into um a promising high jumper uh as far as I had some Olympic aspirations. But I had a problem with my lower back and for a jumper it it was the kiss of death really.
The keepsakes
The luxury
Presenter asks
9:14How did you get spotted by the guy who made you the record offer?
I was working these beer and wine clubs in San Francisco and I had had a degree of success for maybe five years in in working clubs, just uh during the summertime when I was in in school. He happened to be in town one day and the lady who was handling me at the time... she had him come listen to me. He heard me sing once when I was 18, and he said that he liked what he heard, but I needed more... experience. And he said he'd come back the next summer and see me. And sure to his word, he did. He came back a year later and he said, Okay, I think it's time now. Let's make some records.
Presenter asks
14:47Have you ever had any problems with your voice in all the years you've been touring and singing?
I really have been very lucky over the years and haven't had major problems. There have been times when my voice was tired and I pushed to go on performances and it's shown up. But there was a time when my schedule was so heavy, in fact, I was doing four and five shows a night. And I found myself going to different doctors in New York. And one time I went to a doctor who really absolutely gave me an injection that made me feel like a million dollars. And I started to go to him on a regular basis. And it turns out that, in fact, what he was giving me was amphetamines. And over a period of about five years, I went to him and really got to a point where I needed the injections as opposed to just getting them on occasion. ... I was addicted completely.
Presenter asks
18:41Do you have any views on the drug scene?
My views really are pretty simple. When I decided that I wanted to sing and sing really well, I knew that I couldn't take any kind of drugs because the first thing it affects is your voice. And after that, of course, your appearance, everything, your physical stamina. You have to be physically strong to sing well. And so what I had to do was disassociate myself with the people that I knew took drugs. ... That's what I would say to any youngster who finds himself in a situation of taking drugs or hanging with people who take drugs, is you've just got to change your pattern.
“The best thing I ever did was to learn to sing properly so that you don't abuse your voice.”
“I was so happy that I didn't have to go to the Olympic trials.”
“I've made some recordings under the influence of this drug that this doctor was giving me, and I've compared that to my other recordings and they were very, very, very bad.”