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1 of 1- zanereed
- Sustaining Member
Offline - From: Crystal, Minnesota
- Registered: 21/12/2010
- Posts: 118
"The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson" - Vault Series Volume 5
Since Richard brought this one up in the recent issue of "BING", I figured I would comment a bit on it since I have it:
Some quick background - "The Vault Series" is a DVD series produced by JohnnyCarson.com which has (mostly) full episodes from the Carson-era of "The Tonight Show". There are currently 12 Volumes on DVD. Each DVD usually has 2 episodes (including most of the commercials), and a bonus clip or two. However, it was revealed later that some of the song snippets that Doc Severinsen and his band played have been edited out or replaced by different music (likely due to music rights clearances).
Volume 5 will be of interest to Bing fans, as it contains Bing's appearance on "The Tonight Show" from March 5, 1976. Bing first appears around the 20 minute mark and sings "Where The Morning Glories Grow". Then he takes a seat next to Johnny for an interview. You can tell that Johnny is in awe of Bing and comments on Bing still performing and sounding great. They talk about Bing's upcoming live appearance with Rosemary Clooney and also his upcoming participation in the "Bell Telephone Jubilee" program with Liza Minnelli. Johnny makes an interesting comment that a local radio station at the time was playing recordings by Bing when he was with Paul Whiteman (along with other songs by artists of that era), and how good they make the old phonograph recordings sound. I can only imagine what Johnny and Bing would have thought of the "Chronological" CDs!
As mentioned on the BING magazine website and via some clips on YouTube, Bing duets with Ray Bolger on "The Only Way To Go" (accompanied by Marvin Hamlisch on piano).
For those interested in this, Bing is there throughout most of the show, and it's great to see Bing interact with Johnny in a traditional interview on "The Tonight Show" (the other two times Bing appeared on "The Tonight Show" were for brief appearances, if the appearance with Bob Hope in December 1976 is correct).
Astute Crosby fans will note that the online blurb at JohnnyCarson.com mentions this as, "Bing Crosby makes his first appearance on the show". This, of course, was not true, as Bing appeared in 1975 along with Bob Hope and John Wayne when Don Rickles was hosting the show in place of a vacationing Carson.
I recommend it, as the DVD itself isn't expensive on JohnnyCarson.com, although you can purchase it from other online retailers as well.
Zane Johnson
- Richard Baker
- Moderator
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- From: Kenilworth, Warwickshire, Engl
- Registered: 20/11/2010
- Posts: 1,542
Re: "The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson" - Vault Series Volume 5
Thank you Zane.
I mentioned the DVD sets of the Tonight Shows in the Keeping Track column in "Bing" and I asked for more information which Zane has furnished in considerable detail. (For those readers of "Bing" who do not visit here, I'll be using some of the information so kindly provided by Zane in the next issue).
Yes, indeed, what might Bing have thought of The Chronological Crosby? He always expressed a degree of modesty about his accomplishments and I'd guess he might have been a little bewildered in the continuing interest all thse years on.