G.H. Harding

THE WRIGHT STUFF — I was, and am, a huge Gary Wright fan. From Spooky Tooth to Wonderwheel to his terrific work with George Harrison and his solo work, he was always strikingly memorable. I well remember his appearance on the Dick Cavett Show in 1972, where after Cavett interviewed George Harrison, he introduced Wonderwheel, with Gary Wright and Mick Jones and Harrison himself on guitar.

They performed “Two Faced Man” from his solo album Footprint and it was very excellent.  Here’s the clip:

For those who don’t recall, Dick Cavett was a terrific chat-show host and always had somewhat controversial guests on and music personalities like Harrison, John Lennon and David Bowie. Part-Letterman, part-Carson, he was terrific and is much missed.

Gary Wright began with the Brit-band Spooky Tooth and enjoyed some success as well as a close relationship with Island Records Chris Blackwell kept him at the forefront of music. As Wright said, he was invited to play on Harrison’s All Things Must Pass album by Klaus Voorman and once there, had some difficulty following Harrison’s complex music. When producer Phil Spector shouted out, who’s not playing the right notes … Wright admitted it was him, Harrison went over and said to take his time. They became lifelong friends. He played on every subsequent Harrison album.

Wright’s career took off with the release of his solo album The Dream Weaver in 1975 and the single “Love Is Alive,” which to me is one of the greatest pop records ever. The bass-synth of that song is just riveting and holds up today as good as ever. The album reportedly was the first-ever to feature all keyboard-work. I read where Wright himself played all the bass-synth parts.

Numerous performances followed and Wright is well remembered for playing the Keytar – a portable keyboard, strapped on which allowed him to move about onstage.

Albums and tours followed, most notably with Ringo Starr’s All Starr Band. Truly a legend. RIP Gary!

Here’s a great tribute from Variety on Wright: https://variety.com/2023/music/news/gary-wright-dead-dream-weaver-1235713097/?fbclid=IwAR1g1z3mzrOP7QxFACbSQqYNOt_D6NirjlhtgYAdsAFaElCeS0O14sUP2po

SHORT TAKES — As we’ve mentioned, big news coming next week on the launch of celebrity-scribe Mark Bego’s 68th book, Joe Cocker: With a Lot of Help From His Friends via Yorkshire Publishing. Stay tuned …

Chloe Melas

Chloe Melas – the Today’s Show new entertainment correspondent is good, but an odd choice. She certainly has the button-down look nailed, but as an entertainment writer for years, I was never ever aware of her. Definitely more Jenna Bush Hagar for sure. Carson Daly was on with her -for the first time- Tuesday and they made for an odd pair. Good luck …

Micky Dolenz and Ian McDiarmid

Here’s Micky Dolenz with Stars Wars Ian McDiarmid at last weekend’s Fanboy Expoin Orlando …

Ken Costner

I’ve spoken repeatedly about my admiration for Yellowstone; sure, it’s Dallas-updated, but that’s a good thing. Kevin Costner broke his silence on what’s happening on the show in the Hollywood Reporter. Take a look here: https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/tv/tv-news/kevin-costner-yellowstone-7-seasons-1235580306/ I’ll say one thing: Taylor Sheridan is right about once the lawyers get involved, it gets crazy.

Rolling Stones

Stay tuned … Wednesday’s Rolling Stones album launch (Hackney Diamonds) with Jimmy Fallon was pretty cool. Mick, Keith and Ronnie talked for a half-four with Fallon, from London, and introduced the new video (directed by Francois Rousselet) for their single “Angry” which features actress Sydney Sweeney undulating in a car on Sunset Blvd. Here it is: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_mEC54eTuGw  … The threesome looked great and were funny for sure. Their first album of new material in 18 years! Simply amazing. Guests on the album include Lady Gaga; Stevie Wonder; and Paul McCartney. The Stones are in a  class all by themselves. Bravo … Looks like that long-awaited memoir from Dave Mason (Only You Know and I Know) won’t now arrive till 2024. Geeze, this book has been in the making for years … New York Governor Kathy Hochul paid a brief, but surprise visit to striking writers and actors outside Netflix offices Wednesday saying “You’re fighting the right fight” … Happy Bday Nancy Jeffries and Henry Diltz!

NAMES IN THE NEWS — Roy Trakin; Roger Friedman; Andrew Sandoval; Glenn Gretlund; Bruce Haring; Jane Berk; Mark Bego; Kent and Laura Denmark; Kent and Laura Denmark; Randy Lewis;  Tom & Lisa Cuddy; Nancy Ruth; Teresa Knox; Steve Walter; Chris Noth; Nancy Ruth; Teresa Knox; Chuck Pulin; Derek Storm; Paul Undersinger; and ZIGGY!

As the season starts so does the plethora of things to attend. Here are our picks for September

92 Street Y: 1395 Lexington Ave. 9/11: Cabaret Conversations. Michael Kirk Lane interviews James Jackson, Jr. and John-Andrew Morrison; 9/12: Oprah Winfrey and Arthur C. Brooks in Conversation with George Stephanopoulos: Build the Life You Want (In-Person); 9/14: Katie Couric in Conversation with Jennifer Wallace – Never Enough (In-Person) and 9/22: Fashion Icons with Fern Mallis: Linda Evangelista (Online)

Birdland Jazz: 315 West 44 St. Every Monday at 9:30pm Jim Caruso’s Cast Party; Every Tuesday at 8:30pm The Lineup with Susie Mosher; Every Saturday at 7pm Eric Comstock with Sean Smith (Bass) & special guest Barbara Fasano (Voice); 9/1 -2 Catherine Russell; 9/18: Amanda McBroom and “Such Good Friends” and 9/25: Bill Russell “My Side Of The Show”.

Cafe Carlyle: 35 E 76th St. 0/2: John Lloyd Young; 9/12 -23: Brook Shields and 9/26 -30 Joaquina Kalukango.

Carnegie Hall: 881 7th Ave at 57th St.

Daisy Joplin

Chelsea Table + Stage: Hilton Fashion District Hotel, 152 W 26th St. 9/8: Daisy Joplin and Frank Skinner; 9/10: Reeve Carney and 9/28: Karen Mason.

Don’t Tell Mama: 343 W. 46 St. 9/28: Quinn Lemley.

Dizzys Club Coca Cola: Frederick P. Rose Hall, Broadway at 60th Street.

The DJango: 2 Avenue of the Americas. 9/21: Lee Taylor

54 Below: 254 West 54 St. 9/1 -2: Adam Pascal; 9/3 LIVESTREAM | Brenda Braxton: Stars Tonight! Feat. Ken Ard; 9/7 – 8: Tony Yazbeck; 9/10, 11 -14 Santino Fontana; 9/11: Christopher Sieber; 9/15 -16: Christine Andreas: Paris to Broadway; 9/19 – 23: Cheyenne Jackson; and 9/28 – 29: Jenn Colella: Out and Proud

The Green Room 42: 570 10th Ave. 9/8 and 9/10: Josie de Guzman and 9/11: Linda Purl.

Sony Hall: 235 W. 46th St. 9/12: Broadway Sings Celine Dion;

Theatre at the West Bank Café: 407 West 42 St. 9/28: Alison Angrim

The Triad: 158 W. 72 St. 9/9 and 9/12: Adrienne Haan.

The Town Hall: 123 West 43rd Street. 9/18: Voices: Stars for Foster Kids and 9/22 – 23: David Spade.

Yesterday was my good friend Richard Jay-Alexander’s birthday and I presented him with his own personal caricature.  Fo those who do not know Richard J is an Broadway producer and director. He served as Executive Director of the New York City office of producer Cameron Mackintosh for twelve years, known for productions including Les Misérables, Cats, The Phantom of the Opera, Miss Saigon, Five Guys Named Moe, Oliver! and Putting It Together.

His directorial credits include the staging of For The Girls (2020) on Broadway starring Kristin Chenoweth, Porgy and Bess for the South Florida Symphony (2019), the concert versions of Les Miz (2008) and Guys and Dolls (2009), both at the Hollywood Bowl.

Jay-Alexander is a long time board member of Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS and has directed benefits for the honored organization, as well as other causes he cares about, including animals and no-kill shelters, the Make-A-Wish Foundation of South Florida, The Actor’s Fund, National Asian Artists Project (NAAP), Broadway Dreams, and Hollywood’s Motion Picture and Television Fund (MPTF). Most recently he directed the star studded BroadwayWorld celebration.

He is passionate about young talent and teaches workshops and master classes, when possible. For the last few years, he has been the camp director of Kristin Chenoweth’s Broadway Bootcamp.

Jay-Alexander began his Broadway career in 1977 as a production assistant on the Broadway revival of Porgy and Bess, produced by Sherwin M. Goldman and the Houston Grand Opera. He also served as a production assistant on the pre-Broadway try out of Nefertiti which starred Andrea Marcovicci and directed by Jack O’Brien.

As a director, writer, and producer his career has taken him around the globe as far away as Alaska and Singapore and from London’s Royal Albert Hall and Royal Festival Hall to Carnegie Hall, The Sydney Opera House, The Village Vanguard, Feinstein’s/54 Below in New York City, Laxness Arena-Cologne, Germany, The Metropolitan Opera House, The Hollywood Bowl, Joe’s Pub at The Public Theatre, Brooklyn’s Barclays Center, Bloomfield Stadium in Tel Aviv, London’s O2 Arena, O2 World Berlin, and just about every other legitimate theatre, nightclub and cabaret in between.

Jay-Alexander has also contributed lyrics to projects for Disney Records. He is a regular contributor to Broadwayworld.com where he is particularly known for a series called “All Eyes On,” interviewing Angela Lansbury, Josh Groban, Sir Ian McKellen, Rose Marie, Bob Avian, Ann-Margret, and Barry Manilow about his Broadway-bound Harmony. He has also authored liner notes for reissues of musicals such as the original, Jacques Brel is Alive and Well and Living in Paris, and four titles from the Stephen Sondheim Columbia Masterworks/Sony canon: Merrily We Roll Along, Into The Woods, Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street, and Sunday In The Park With George, giving them context all these years later as to their place in history and with 20-20 hindsight.

He has also worked Bernadette Peters, Barbra Streisand, Bette Midler, Julie Andrews, Brian Stokes Mitchell, Lea Salonga, Sam Harris, Polly Bergen, Russell Watson, Il Volo, Il Divo, Norm Lewis, Laurie Beechman, Debby Boone, Mandy Gonzalez, Mary Cleere Haran, Roslyn Kind, Melissa Errico, Lea Michele, Betty Buckley, Donny & Marie Osmond, Ricky Martin, Well-Strung, Donna McKechnie, Melora Hardin, Jennifer Leigh Warren, and others. His work with Barbra Streisand can be seen on various DVD products or PBS specials including: Streisand: 2006 Tour; Barbra Streisand: One Night Only at The Village Vanguard; Barbra Streisand: Back to Brooklyn; Barbra: The Music, The Mem’ries, The Magic (Netflix).

G.H. Harding

SLY REVIVED — (via Rolling Stone) Sly Stone, the enigmatic R&B/funk icon, will share his story in a new memoir, Thank You (Falettinme Be Mice Elf  Agin), arriving Oct. 17 via Questlove’s new publishing imprint, AUWA Books.

Stone co-wrote the new book with Ben Greeman, who’s written memoirs with George Clinton, Brian Wilson, and Questlove (he helped the Roots drummer with his three other books, too). Questlove — who’s directing a documentary about Stone  — will also pen a foreword for Thank You (Falettinme Be Mice Elf Agin).

In a statement, Stone said, “For as long as I can remember folks have been asking me to tell my story. I wasn’t ready. I had to be in a new frame of mind to become Sylvester Stewart again to tell the true story of Sly Stone. It’s been a wild ride and hopefully my fans enjoy it too.”

Born Sylvester Stewart, Stone’s music career began when he was a child, singing in a gospel quartet with his siblings. In the Sixties, he worked as a radio DJ in the Bay Area, forming various soul groups, including the extremely successful Sly and the Family Stone. The group’s debut,A Whole new Thing,  arrived in 1967, and that same year they released their first major hit, “Dance to the Music,” which anchored the band’s second album. Between 1967 and and 1982, Sly and the Family Stone released 10 albums, including classics like Stand! and There’s a Riot Goin; On.

But after the dissolution of the Family Stone, Stone struggled to find success as a solo artist while simultaneously battling drug addiction. Though he got sober, he receded from public life, making only sporadic appearances, like the band’s induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and a performance at the 2006 Grammys. In 2011, Stone released a new solo album, I’m Back! Family and Friends; in 2016, he received a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Grammys.

Thank You (Falettinme Be Mice Elf Agin) is one of several books on the initial slate for Questlove’s new AUWA Books venture. (The Farrar, Straus and Giroux imprint takes its name, by the way, from the bird-call noise Prince used on songs like “Baby I’m a Star” and “Eye No.”) Also on the docket: Questlove’s new book, Hip-Hop Is History, and a book from TikTok star Drew Afualo (both out in 2024).

This is major news for sure. If you’re of a certain age, Sly Stone’s music was the best. The true of story of what actually happened should be cataclysmic. The stories I’ve heard over the years encompass almost everything good and bad about the music industry. I hope the curtain is finally pulled back in this instance.

Neil Young

TICKET TO YOUNG — (Via Ultimate Classic Rock) Count Neil Young among those musicians who blame escalating ticket prices for ruining the concert industry. “It’s over. The old days are gone,” Young declared in a message posted to his Neil Young Archives website. “I get letters blaming me for $3,000.00 tickets for a benefit I am doing. That money does not go to me or the benefit. Artists have to worry about ripped off fans blaming them for Ticketmaster add-ons and scalpers.”

The acclaimed rocker’s message was accompanied by a story about the Cure and their recent battle with Ticketmaster. The ticketing giant earned the scorn of the goth rock band and their fans by adding several fees to ticket prices for the Cure’s upcoming North American tour. In some cases, these “unduly high” fees, as Robert Smith called them, resulted in the actual price of tickets nearly doubling from their face value. Ticketmaster eventually agreed to refund some of the cost.

“Concert tours are no longer fun,” Young opined, pointing to ticket fees and scalpers as the culprit. “Concert tours not what they were.”

Young’s thoughts about ticket prices are the latest in his ongoing list of gripes regarding modern touring. In December, the rocker reiterated his refusal to play at concert venues that use factory farms.

John Wick: Chapter 4

SHORT TAKES — Could Big Blue be coming back? Blockbuster for decades was the go-to spot for DVDs and video-tapes. Stay tuned …I love Keanu Reeves, but I must admit I’ve not seen any of the John Wick movies. Chapter 4 opened this past weekend with a $74 million+ score. Rather amazing in this post-covid period.

I pulled up the trailer and was terrifically impressed by the lush visuals; beautiful music and Reeves and Lance Reddick just sensational. I am thinking of a John Wick-weekend where I’ll watch all 4 … Writer/producer Terry Jastrow arrives in NY this week with his wife actress Anne Archer … Whatever happened to the Madonna biopic? You ask three different people and you get three different answers,. Check this one out from IndieWire: https://www.indiewire.com/2023/03/julia-garner-madonna-biopic-fingers-crossed-1234819696/ …

Julia Garner

Personally, I don’t think Garner should do it. Mired in controversy already, could it really be any good? … GUESS WHO DON”T SUE: What up-and-coming metal band is using the name of a high-profile manager to score some Manhattan-gigs? They were going to work with the manager until it blew up. Simply shady if you ask me …  btw: whatever happened to Wendy Stuart Kaplan? …

Shrinking

Friday was the last episode (for their inaugural season) of Apple TV+’s Shrinking which has just been so excellent in this its debut season. Jason Segal and Brett Goldstein have come up with the best show on streaming yet. Infectiously good and the acting turns from Segal and Harrison Ford are off the charts. The show culminated in a wedding for best-friend Brian (Michael Urie) and ended with a call-back to the show’s very first scene. Remember it? Truly a one-of-a-kind show. We loved it … I’ve heard at least 4 stories on the news this weekend about composting. Is this a hot topic now? Trending is it? …  RIP Nicholas Lloyd Webber

NAMES IN THE NEWS –— Alex Salzman; Rob Petrie; Anthony Pomes; Terry Jastrow; Tyrone Biljan; Jacqueline Boyd; Bill McCuddy; Brad LeBeau; Nile Rodgers; Nancy Hunt; Steve Leeds; Terri Epstein; Brenda K. Starr; Tom & Lisa Cuddy; William Schill; Robert Funaro; Vinny Pastore; Maureen Van Zandt; Tricia Daniels; and ZIGGY!