Doc Severinsen And The Tonight Show Band – Ode to Billie Joe
An evening pause: Another selection from the Tonight Show with Johnny Carson, from 1974.
Hat tip Tom Biggar.
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Looked up Doc to see if he was still with us—
Doc Severinsen:
United States Coast Guard Guardians Big Band
“I Want To Be Happy” (2020)
https://youtu.be/AWj6IEjGN-I
3:21
Wow. Had forgotten why Carson was so good. Snap, Crackle, Pop with grown -up (not ‘adult’) humor.
Always liked Doc Severinsen; trumpet was my primary instrument.
Can’t say I care for the arrangement. ‘Ode to Billy Joe’ has been a favorite: because it is dark and deliberate, because much is implied, because Bobbie Gentry is performing it.
The Orchestra’s (Band’s?) version is like Paul Simon’s take on Simon & Garfunkle’s ‘Sound of Silence’.
When Johnny Carson left the stage, he took “class” with him.
BIG BROTHER IS WATCHING YOU.
DOWN WITH BIG BROTHER!
I didn’t even recognize Ed until he said he’d been introducing the band as an orchestra. I also didn’t recognize the music under all the, uh, “creative stylings”.
On the whole, I’m glad the 1970s are over, but that was fun.