Friday, March 19, 2010
When catastrophes happen, musicians and others in the entertainment industry often become the voices for humanitarian relief efforts. Recently, within days of the earthquake that rocked Haiti, Quincy Jones assembled 100 music professionals to rerecord “We Are The World.” He produced the original version in 1985, written by Michael Jackson and Lionel Ritchie, to benefit famine relief efforts in Africa.
The new version featured such vocalists as Jennifer Hudson, Barbra Streisand, Tony Bennett, and Harry Connick, Jr., along with some 90 new artists of the present day. Their efforts reminded me of another performer who looked to the music industry to help him raise funds for a deserving cause: Danny Thomas, whose goal was to build St. Jude Hospital and Research Center for Children.
He was a man with a mission and, like the humanitarians of the “We Are The World” effort, he felt musicians could reach the public in ways that would help him realize his dream. Even with the financial backing of prominent businessmen, he called upon some of the top names in the entertainment industry to appear at his ALSAC shows. For many years, he took his shows to many cities throughout the country, raising public awareness about cancer and the need to have a treatment and research center designed especially for children.
During the 1960s, both Kiel Auditorium and the Arena hosted the shows where as many as 10,000-15,000 teenagers hoped to see their favorite musical groups touring for Danny and his dream. The talent and star power of the ALSAC shows reads like a “Who’s Who” of the `60s.
Some of the performers who came to St. Louis to help Danny included Roy Orbison, Mitch Ryder, Sam the Sham (of the Pharaohs) and Eric Clapton and Cream. My band and I were fortunate to perform with some of these groups. And, even with the briefest of rehearsal periods lasting only one afternoon, we managed to learn what we needed to know in order to make each event a success.
I like to compare our teamwork that blended with the visiting bands to the All Star Game. For one day only, ballplayers of teams that usually oppose each other unite and mesh with their new teammates. Because they are professionals, it seems like they’ve been playing together for an entire season.
That’s what happened with us; we were able to blend our talents with theirs. I think the fact that we were good musicians, who knew what we were doing, put them at ease. They came prepared with their musical agenda and we were there to help them implement it.
Many performers have stage personas that are very different from their off-stage personalities. Mitch Ryder, known for his high energy performances, was quiet and very laid back. In October 2008, I had the pleasure of reuniting with Mitch at a special performance at the T. R. Hughes Stadium in O’Fallon. He still knows how to crank up the volume when he’s doing “Devil With A Blue Dress On,” but, otherwise he’s still the same.
Roy Orbison was one of the kindest and most gentlemanly performers I’ve ever encountered. His charts were simple, almost primitive; they looked like they had been jotted down by someone other than a trained musician. I questioned something about a couple of measures, one having seven beats, the other, three. He said that the chart was correct; “Just play it the way it’s written, and it’ll turn out all right,” said Roy. We did, and he was right.
Eric Clapton knew what he was doing with the guitar and his artistry was evident way back then. He was very reserved and quiet, too.
Sam the Sham was very talented and intelligent, but unusual in that he’d ask your birth date. When you told him, he’d say, “Oh, you’re a Water sign. You’d go over there.” He arranged everybody according to their astrological signs. We weren’t quite sure what to expect from him!
Danny’s dream came true. He and the artists who performed at the ALSAC shows laid the foundation for the wonderful work that continues almost 50 years later at St. Jude Hospital in Memphis. Over the years, the hospital has treated thousands of children from more than 60 countries.
Bob Kuban’s big Easter Weekend Dance will be at the Concord’s Farmers Club, Saturday, April 3. The band begins at 8 p.m. For directions, visit www.bobkuban.com
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