In November, 1956, NBC became the first network to build a variety show around a black headliner when they debuted The Nat “King” Cole Show.
Nat "King" Cole was already an extremely popular singer, with 17 Top 10 hits. His show was well-received an attracted big name talent like Tony Bennett and Ella Fitzgerald as guests. Yet, by December of 1957 the show was gone!
Why?
It wasn’t lack of ratings. Nat “King” Cole competed well. The problem was advertising. The New York agencies were afraid to place their sponsors on a show headlined by an African-American. They feared negative reaction to their clients’ products in the South. The show was only able to attract sponsors at the local level, like Reingold Beer in the New York area.
For a short time, Cole and his guests all agreed to work for AFTRA scale, the equivalent of minimum wage for TV performers. But after a year, Cole became disillusioned and quit, telling reporters, “Madison Avenue is afraid of the dark.”
NBC kept trying, bringing Bill Cosby in to co-star in the hit spy series Ispy beginning in 1965. Three years later they would launch Julia, a sit-com that starred Diahann Carroll.
But it wasn’t until 1970 that the network was finally able to create a variety show starring a black entertainer that could attract national sponsors. That was The Flip Wilson Show.
Every get those call s from groups that claim to help your local police or fire fighters? Beware!
Many times, these are groups that have incorprate with names like "Police Benevolent Organization," but they have no connection to your local first responders. Even if they are legit, they may also be professional fund raisers that can take as much as 90% of your money, leaving only 10% to help your local firefighters and police.
If you want to help, experts suggest you call your local police, fire or EMT departments and ask te best way for you to donate..
Indeed. But what's Mel Cooley doing in the picture?
If you're taking medicine for diabetes, medical experts warn that you should avoid cinnamon in large doses. Both can lower your blood sugar. Taken together, they may lower it to dangerous levels. A sprnkling of cinnamon might be okay, but avoid cinnamon in high dose supplements.
For a song titled “Let It Be,” Paul McCartney has never really let it be. To date, not counting any live recordings, there are no fewer than 4 different versions of this Beatles’ classic on various albums & CDs.
McCartney has always said the inspiration for the tune came to him in a dream where he was visited by his long dead mother, Mary McCartney. The band was on the verge of splitting up during the sessions for the project that became known as The White Album. In Paul’s dream, his mother told him everything would be all right. “Let it be.”
So, Paul began working on the composition while they wrapped up the White Album sessions in September, 1968. In January of 1969, work on the song with the rest of the band commenced in earnest. On January 31st of that year, the lads recorded what would become the master take for two of the subsequent releases of the song.
The Single Release: Not totally satisfied with the master take from January, George Martin called George Harrison back into the studio to overdub a new guitar solo for the song. On April 30, 1969 Harrison gave Martin a new solo. That was overdubbed onto the master track and released as a single on March 6, 1970. This version is relatively quiet and Martin mixed the orchestral tracks low.
The Album Release: To get the long-stalled album back on track, John Lennon called in producer Phil Spector. Spector remixed “Let It Be,” using the same master track as the single, but adding a different, more aggressive Harrison solo (recorded on January 4, 1970) and bringing the orchestra up quite a few notches. It as been reported that McCartney absolutely loathed this mix of the song, but it was released on the LP and remains the most familiar of the four authorized mixes.
The Anthology Release: For the giant 6-disc Anthology series of recordings released in 1996, the surviving members of the Beatles and Martin included an earlier take of the song from the January, 1969 sessions. This one was recorded before Paul had composed the final verse, so he simply repeats the first verse where the third verse should be. It also features very simple instrumentation.
The Let It Be…Naked Release: Paul finally got to take a stab at remixing the “Let It Be “sessions the way he wanted them in 2003. George Martin was called back in and the project returned to its roots – as an attempt to recreate the simpler sound of the Beatles’ earlier recordings. This version of “Let It Be” contains a different piano track than had been used on any of the previous versions. Ringo also hated Spector’s version, so the heavy effects added to his drum track by Spector were removed.
So, the next time you hear “Let It Be,” see if you can figure out exactly which version you’re hearing.
