My answer for this is the same as Day 3. Very first one in any format was the Sibling Revelry on cassette. First vinyl was Purple Onion. Not only my first albums but also my favorites 🥰 And I share how I got each one of those in that post.
And since I showed the front covers of those albums also on Day 3, and I didn’t want to use the same picture again, I decided to share the back covers this time 😅
I have a non-musical one, and a couple musical ones.
The non-musical one is probably is not a surprise. “Mom Always Likes You Best” (and it’s variants) 🤣.
I am the oldest of 4. So of course I can really relate to the type of sibling bickering that is in the routine. But what I didn’t think would happen, or was possible, was that it would become even funnier.
After I became a mom of 2.
My daughters are a few years apart, but once the youngest started talking, they started fighting. And they would argue over who got away with more. And so on.
One time they started up, and I stood there listening to them, and started to laugh. And my oldest asked me “Mom, what are you laughing about?” And then quickly caught on “Are you thinking of the Smothers Brothers?”
While still laughing, I nodded yes. And then she started laughing. And my youngest laughed too, though I don’t think she understood exactly why.
Below is from the same-titled album, along with “You Can Call Me Stupid”, which is what I liked to call “Mom Always Liked You Best, part 2”.
Back in 1993 when they rebroadcast the Comedy Hour on E!, with Tom and Dick setting up the episode and afterwards talking about memories they had. Below, they share the time when their mom appeared on the show, and slapped Dickie.
“Michael, Row the Boat Ashore” from Golden Hits of the Smothers Brothers, Vol. 2 is a great one. Also the reference to Ralph was great, especially for me since that’s where my fanhood started.
(Background – Ralph was a character from their sitcom they did right before starting the Comedy Hour. He was Tom’s angel supervisor who would call Tom on various different items to give out assignments.)
From the same album, “I Talk to the Trees” is also fantastic.
Added bonus…
Lincoln Logs, circa mid-20th century. I had them when growing up as well. Our dog chewed up one of the logs. And the thought of termites being put in them… 😅. And here’s a cool little video about them. And, yes, they are still around!
Some of the 1949 St. Louis Cardinals baseball trading cards.
There were a total of 12 albums released. During the 60’s, 11. Years later, in 1988, a “Best Of”. And all of them I love to bits. But which one is my favorite?
There’s two.
Sibling Revelry: The Best of the Smothers Brothers
This one which is pretty much like it sounds: a compilation of routines from their albums that are tops. I got the cassette version as a birthday present from a family friend. I don’t remember any other birthday presents I got that year.
It was also my first foray into hearing them. I listened to that a lot. Brought it with me a few months later when I had jaw surgery. Since my whole head was wrapped up in bandages and my eyes swollen, watching tv was out of the question, so I brought things to listen to, this album being one of them. My jaw was also tightly rubber-banded shut to hold things in place, and I couldn’t laugh the regular way. When I wanted to laugh, all that energy had to go somewhere and I convulsed with laughter which shook the hospital bed, and I made weird sounds since I couldn’t move my head. The nurses probably wondered if I was ok 😂.
This is the tracklist of what’s on the cassette version:
Tom Dooley
Chocolate
Laredo
The Saga Of John Henry
Gnus
Crabs Walk Sideways
Mediocre Fred
Mom Always Liked You Best
You Can Call Me Stupid
Jenny Brown
The Military Lovers
I Talk To The Trees
Hangman
Michael, Row The Boat Ashore
I later saw my local library had the CD version which had more routines on it. Needless to say, I checked that out several times until I bought my own copy.
And then at some point I bought the vinyl version. Because that’s the kind of fan I am 🤓
I definitely would recommend this album if you are a new fan.
But it’s easy to say a “Best of” album as a favorite.
The Songs and Comedy of the Smothers Brothers at the Purple Onion
That summer of 1989 I was home recovering from jaw surgery, and my mom mentions that she thinks she has a Smothers Brothers record somewhere.
“Really?!? WHERE?!?”
“Oh, it’s somewhere in the steam trunk”
Although I had my own records when I was little (Sesame Street, Disney, Beach Boys, Elton John), I don’t remember my parents listening to their records. I remember listening to their 8-tracks many many times, and my own. But in ’89 I went through their record collection (Sgt Pepper! Including the sheet of cut-outs!), and lo-and-behold I found the Purple Onion album.
It was a good thing I didn’t know about mom having this record when I was little, because otherwise it would have gone the way of my own records… which is probably why they weren’t brought out often! 😂
Below, my daughter listening to the album on our (then) brand new record player. I am hoping to get a better player later on, because the one I have is 😒.
I love this album, partly for sentimental reasons, but also because it has great balance of routines and songs. One of them, “They Call The Wind Maria”, is my favorite song they sing straight (2nd half of track 4). It has a comedic intro, but once they start singing, they sing it straight.
“Down in the Valley” is also performed straight (again, right after a comedic intro, but this time it’s how people come up to them and question whether or not they are really brothers and if their real name is Smothers 🤣).
And from this album I heard about the famous folk song “Tom Dooley” (track 7) that I had previously never heard of. It was the only routine that I was familiar with, it being the first track from the “The Best of” album. I loved Tom’s intro saying that another group (that I had equally hadn’t heard of – The Kingston Trio) had stolen the song from his brother. I started to listen to the Trio because of this.
Sidenote – Tom Dooley was based on a real person who (according to legend) was innocently hung for the death of his lover. You can begin you rabbit hole journey of the song here, here, and here.
In reality, Tom and Dick would often credit The Kingston Trio for opening the doors to their, and many others, popularity.
Back on track
Below is the playlist of the whole Purple Onion album:
The reasons why this is my favorite boils down to a great balance of straight singing and comedic routines, both done superbly.
Dickie wasn’t established as the straight man yet.
Only the opening routine was recorded at the Purple Onion. Due to technical issues, the other recordings from that performance were scrapped . Most of the album was recorded at the Tidelands Club.
Afterthought – I should have put this part of the challenge after I went through all their albums. Oh well 🙃
I don’t go to concerts very much. In fact, I think the last time I went to one was to see the Smothers Brothers. And they retired in 2010, so that gives you an idea. But I saw them much more than all other concerts combined (John Denver in ’85, Janet Jackson in ’90, and David Byrne also in ’90… I think that’s it, 😂).
So how many times? I don’t remember. I lost count. But there were a few that stood out.
The first time I saw them, it was February 1990. Not only did I see them in concert, I got to meet them backstage.
Here’s my Instagram post I made for my personal #OTD a couple years ago!
But I’ll tell more of this tale in my future Day 6 “Have you lucky been lucky enough to meet them?” post :).
My small George Harrison / Beatles experience
I saw them a few more times with my grandmother. Once with both my grandmother and grandfather when they played with Florida Symphony (Philharmonic? not sure) Orchestra. After I got married, I saw them a few more times with my (at the time) husband. At one concert, we sat in a row that was technically the second row, but the first row was short, and our row was longer and wrapped around a little bit so it was like sitting first row. And it was at that concert I saw their montage of photos and video clips about their life that was shown between their usual routines and then change to the closing Yo-Yo Man bit. The montage got to the Comedy Hour (found that part of the montage here) and up came the clip of when George Harrison came on to thank them for having the Beatles on a couple weeks earlier.
At the time of this particular concert, it was a few weeks after 9/11 and just a few days after George’s passing. Everyone was still a bit emotional. And when that clip showed up on the screen at the concert… well, I never heard so much cheering, clapping, stomping of feet, roaring of cheers before! Was the roof going to cave in from the reverberating happy noise? In the following times I saw Tom and Dick, and that montage was shown, there wasn’t the same kind of uproarious cheer, so that night was something special.
Neither snow nor rain nor heat nor gloom of night
Then there was the time when my mom, daughter, and I went to see them at the Strawberry Festival in 2008. My daughter had never seen them live and was curious to see what they were about on stage. It was an outside venue. And it started to rain. More and more. But they stayed on stage. My mom and daughter went to seek shelter, but my feeling was if they were going to be on stage, I was staying put. I had come to the realization the previous couple times that I won’t be seeing them live many more times, and to not take it for granted. And I wasn’t going let a little (ha!) water ruin my fun.
Though I was concerned about them being onstage, with whatever electrical equipment mixed in with rain.
The last time
The last time I saw them was in 2009. It was their 50th anniversary and there was no way I was going to miss seeing them. It was, oddly enough, at the university I graduated from years earlier. When I had attended in the 90s, I thought “Wouldn’t it be cool if they came over and performed here? But that’s *never* going to happen!”
Well, not while I was a student there. A stint with the circus, marriage, two kids, and divorce later 🤣
My dad went with me. He averaged seeing them about once every 20ish years: once in the 60s, once in 1990 as mentioned above, and again in 2009. It was a great show. And they sang my favorite song they have sung straight, “They Call The Wind Mariah“. Dick introduced the song by saying they hadn’t performed it in 40 years, and Tom (just loud enough for the mic to pick it up) says “I hope I remember how it goes,” which everyone laughed at.
The concert I didn’t see
In the beginning of 2010, my cousin Nancy (who helped tracked down some Smothers albums for me in the pre-internet days and recorded the Comedy Hour when it was re-aired on E! network), had told me about how they were going to be at that year’s Strawberry Festival. And for some unknown reason I didn’t get tickets. I have absolutely no idea why. If I had known they were going to retire later that year, I would have gone.
But maybe, in the future ?
At the time of writing this, they are planning a tour of some places and already played in some areas, though different kind of concert. They had planned doing it earlier this year, but scheduling was delayed because of upsurge in Covid cases. A mix of performing, showing clips from the Comedy Hour, and “Question & Answer” session. They are making an appearance in Florida, and I hope to be there!
Live recordings
A fun filmed live performance was done back in the late 80s for PBS’s series “An Evening With Pops” with the Boston Pops with the legendary John Williams conducting/ It gives you a good idea of what it was like seeing them in concert. Below I have a playlist of shortened version of their live performance.
Fun little side bonus
From this same episode of the Evening with Pops. Tom and Dick do no appear in, but Dickie’s bass can be seen in a couple shots: The 1988 Olympic Spirit theme , composed and conducted by John Williams
So there I was in 1986, a 13 year old kid, flipping TV channels on our TV in our family room looking for something to watch. And then I see them. It was on the Nickelodeon channel during a block of shows called Camp Nickelodeon (shortly later to be renamed Nick at Night). It was a black and white sitcom that I had never seen before – “The Smothers Brothers Show”. And two guys who (I thought) I had never seen before , the blond haired one telling his dark haired brother that he was an angel.
I was familiar with 50s and 60s sitcoms such as I Love Lucy, The Honeymooners, I Dream of Jeanie, and my absolute all-time favorite: The Dick Van Dyke Show. But this one I had never seen before. Who were these guys?
I decided to keep watching to find out. Fate, or destiny, or something, had blindsided me without me knowing it.
The Smothers Brothers Show. A sitcom where the blond-haired Tom arrives on Earth as an angel (after drowning at sea) and comes to ask his dark-haired brother Dick for help in earning his angel wings.
There’s only one complete episode I can find online: ” ‘Twas The Week Before Christmas”
I found out years later that they hated making the show, especially Tom since he had so many lines and, without him knowing at the time, was dyslexic, and had trouble. And they had little input into the creative process. And for the first few episodes they did not sing their theme song (that later changed. See – or hear – above). That would change when they were offered “The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour” after the angel show was canceled.
But for 1986 me, 13 years old, I guess I was the right demographic for this show. I loved it and watched it every Sunday evening. And my parents took notice.
One night my dad mentions that he went to see Tom and Dick in concert back in the 60s.
“Really? So did I!” my mom replies.
“Where?”
Mom says where (some college campus somewhere)
“That’s where I saw them!” dad says and they laugh.
And we laughed at the possibility of if they had met there rather than how they actually met (at a wedding where each of their best friends were getting married).
Censorship? Really?
And then I began to hear murmurs about how they had censorship battles. This totally baffled me: “What’s so controversial about the sitcom?” I had no idea about the Comedy Hour….yet.
In the summer of 1987, I was once again flipping tv channels (we did that a lot back then), and stopped on VH1. It was in the middle of the music video “Meet Me Half Way” by Kenny Loggins. I watched the rest, and when the VJ, Bobby Rivers came on, he introduced a couple of guests in the studio: Tom and Dick. And my jaw just dropped. VH1 was doing a week (or weekend, I forget) long spotlight on comedy, and for some reason, had the guys on. They talked about their comedy and the Comedy Hour. And then I saw my first clips of this controversial show I had heard about before but never saw.
The only clip I really remember is an opening where Tom is trying to put on police riot gear. Dick asks him what he is doing when they should be starting a show. Tom says that he’s getting ready for college. I laughed even though I didn’t get the real meaning. I later found out they were referring to the riots on college campuses between students and police over Vietnam protests.
Then the Reunion show…
A few months later I hear that they were coming back to tv for a Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour 20th Reunion show! I was excited to see it, but I wasn’t able to watch it during the broadcast, so I recorded it. (That poor VHS tape had no idea what it was in for!). It had all the regulars on from two decades earlier: Pat Paulsen, John Hartford, Leigh French, Mason Williams, Glen Campbell, Jennifer Warnes; a couple writers who went on the bigger careers after the 60s series: Bob Einstein and Steve Martin.
I only caught their closing routine during the original broadcast:
I loved it! I sat there and laughed until i cried. It was fantastic. So I watched from the beginning all the way through. Absolutely fabulous!
Also, they sang and played their instruments well too (which I was not yet really used to)
I would watch a segment before going to junior high as a boost for my day (alas, was too young for coffee). And it continued when they returned with a short season and specials of the new Comedy Hour later in 1988 and 1989 (which I recorded and wore out the tape).
Why a fan?
I was not (well, still not, lol) the typical age for being a fan of theirs, so what was it that got me hooked? First they were funny. When I first caught them was when I was just beginning to stop judging what I liked/didn’t like based on how old it was. And what I saw, I really liked.
When I was little, my parents had an 8-track player and I listened to a lot of the musical artists that I later discovered had appeared on the Comedy Hour (Peter, Paul, and Mary; Simon and Garfunkel; The Beatles; Glen Campbell; Joan Baez; Judy Collins). So there was a sense of familiarity and nostalgia with a show that was thrown off the air before I was born. Also I recognized some of the songs the brothers sang like “Slithery Dee“, “Michael Row the Boat Ashore“, “Down in the Valley“, “The Impossible Dream“. All these musical familiarities.
The sibling bickering. Being the oldest of 4, that was hilarious (also seeing my grandmother argue with her two brothers).
It was a great way for my to learn about history, particularly the 60s as it was happening.
Also being inspired by their fight with CBS about freedom of speech.
And that’s how it started and has happily kept on going since then 🙂 …
I know this is more niche than my Charlie Chaplin one. And even more niche than the Doctor Who challenge. For example, some of you might be thinking to yourself: “Who the heck are the Smothers Brothers?”
In a nutshell: Tom and Dick Smothers are real life brothers and from 1959 to 2010 they performed as a musical comedy team, with Tom on acoustic guitar and Dick playing double bass. Both of them singing (or attempting to sing) folk songs and breaking into sibling rivalry, occasionally arguing over who mom liked best. They made several comedy albums a few tv series, including the iconic 1960s “Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour” which got them in hot water over their position on the Vietnam War and shortly later, censorship.
I created this 30 Day Challenge as my way to celebrate the 60th anniversary of their first album, “The Smothers Brothers at the Purple Onion” (released in May of 1961), and also because I am a huge fan and wanted to share it with others and maybe introduce them to you if you have no idea who they are.
To say that they have impacted my life is very much an understatement. Things I have gotten interested in stemmed from being a fan of theirs ranging from history, music, to political involvement, and classic comedy, and probably a few other things that I cannot think of right now. My life would be vastly different if it hadn’t been by chance of… well I don’t want to get ahead of myself 😉
So here it is:
How did you become a fan?
Did you ever see them in concert?
Favorite album
Favorite routine
First album you got
Have you lucky been lucky enough to meet them?
Thoughts of the Purple Onion album
Thoughts on The Two Sides of the Smothers Brothers album
…Think Ethnic!
…Curb Your Tongue, Knave!
…It Must Have Been Something I Said!
…Tour de Farce: American History and Other Unrelated Subjects
…Aesop’s Fables: The Smothers Brothers Way
…Mom Always Liked You Best!
…The Smothers Brothers Play It Straight
…Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour (the album)
…Golden Hits of the Smothers Brothers, Vol. 2
Favorite song they sang straight
Favorite interview
Thoughts on the “Smothered” documentary
Thoughts on the book “Dangerously Funny: The Uncensored Story of “The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour” by David Bianculli?
Should season one of the Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour ever be released?
Favorite episode of the Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour (original 60s, 70s, or 80s?)
Favorite Comedy Hour guest?
Favorite Comedy Hour musical guest?
Favorite regular?
Inspired by the Yo-Yo Man to learn (or re-learn) yo-yo tricks?
Favorite piece(s) of memorabilia
Favorite performance (Comedy Hour, late night TV, concert, etc)
Routine or album you would recommend to recruit a new fan?
If a movie/mini-series was made about them, who would you pick to play Tom and Dick?
If you are looking at this and saying “Hey, you have 31 days! I thought this was a 30 day challenge?” Well, it’s in spirit with how they number things, like their album “Golden Hits of the Smothers Brothers, Vol. 2”. There was no volume 1. And the release of their 60s Comedy Hour being released on DVD a few years ago. First was Season 3 (September 2008), then season 2 (October 2009)… season 1 has not been released yet (I am holding out hope!)
And I’ll end my 30 Day Challenge intro with their performance from 1966 on the Ed Sullivan Show. I love it because it’s an excellent short example of how they sang and played, and go into a little of their Mom Always Liked You Best routine:
Back in 2017, I decided to watch A Countess From Hong Kong. It was the 50th anniversary. I did not have it due to it not having been released on video until recently. So I bought the DVD, did a live tweeting of it to record my first thoughts while watching it..
I already shared some of my thoughts on Day 10. It was a weird sensation to watch a film of his that:
was in color
widescreen
I had never watched before (outside a couple clips)
I did a live tweet while watching. Below I copied and pasted my tweets, all are timestamped so you an follow along if you wish. Maybe I might do a commentary for it? Hmmm…
My live tweets (typos included)
(I put a star by my favorites)
Livetweeting #CharlieChaplin ‘s Countess From Hong Kong in 20 minutes. Sort of a 50th anniversary celebration 🙂 #CountHK 19:40:46, 2017-07-07
Since #CharlieChaplin wrote and directed it, but only gave himself cameos, I feel I’ll be seeing his “direction” in everyone #CountHK 19:58:33, 2017-07-07
And play… #CountHK 20:00:25, 2017-07-07
Bit nervous for this, don’t know why #CountHK #CharlieChaplin 20:01:34, 2017-07-07
Ah, the familiar dance hall girl theme #CountHK #CharlieChaplin 20:02:52, 2017-07-07
Written and directed by Charles Chaplin. Woop! #CountHK #CharlieChaplin 20:03:42, 2017-07-07
That looked like that hurt #CountHK #CharlieChaplin 21:28:58, 2017-07-07
Ah, lovely Tippi Hendrin. She seems to have escaped the birds #CountHK #CharlieChaplin #badHitchcockjoke 21:30:34, 2017-07-07 *
Charlie could have done better job with the beach. #CountHK #CharlieChaplin 21:36:15, 2017-07-07
The lovely Chaplin girls 😊#CountHK #CharlieChaplin 21:37:28, 2017-07-07
I like that zoom on Brando #CountHK #CharlieChaplin 21:42:37, 2017-07-07
Oooh. BUSTED! Never try to outsmart your wife. She always figures it out! #CountHK #CharlieChaplin 21:44:37, 2017-07-07 *
And the ending credits #CountHK #CharlieChaplin 21:48:32, 2017-07-07
Pretty good! I’ll have to watch it again, but I thought it was nice. VERY weird to watch Chaplin movie in color. #CountHK #CharlieChaplin 21:50:46, 2017-07-07
Reminded me of King of New York. And a few others where Charlie falls for a dancehall girl. #CountHK #CharlieChaplin 21:52:41, 2017-07-07
But that makes me having seen all of Chaplin’s films. Only took 25 years, lol. Don’t like rushing a good thing 😉 #CountHK #CharlieChaplin 21:55:06, 2017-07-07
To end this livetweet: This is My Song sung by Petula Clark, music & lyrics by Chaplin #CountHK #CharlieChaplin https://t.co/3UiNFEnSXj 22:19:41, 2017-07-07
Bonus
Curing the filming, Charlie celebrated his 77th birthday with the cast. And shared in on a tall cake with a Little Tramp figure at the top. Film from British Pathé YouTube channel. And, sorry, no sound (which seems fitting).
Bit of trivia: the little girl with the blonde hair in pigtails is Tippi Hedren’s daughter, future actress Melanie Griffith.
There’s a bunch of great photos of him out of costume, usually wearing a suit. I have a couple in my room, one of him (probably in his 20s) in a suit, and another of him wearing everyday clothes (one of his tennis sweaters), holding a violin, talking to Buster Keaton on the set of Limelight.
And then there are the artsy ones like the one above taken by Lee Miller. I absolutely love the lighting.
Another one that is artsy, and I love almost as much as Miller’s photo, is one taken by Edward Steichen in 1925. Again the lighting is great, and the use of Chaplin’s larger than life shadow.
Two obvious choices, but I’m going with them anyway:
His own “My Autobiography” (what a genius title! haha), and David Robinson’s “Chaplin: His Life and Art”
Chaplin: His Life and Art by David Robinson
Robinson’s book was the first Chaplin book I bought. It was around the beginning of my fanhood days. I had seen it in my favorite used book store, but was hesitant to get it because “what if it was no good?” The internet wasn’t a big thing yet, so I couldn’t Google it or check Amazon to find out other reviews. Then one day I was sitting in one of my college classes and out of nowhere I had an urge to go down to the store and get it after class.
So I drive down there and I stop and think I better skim through it, and right away there were some interesting images. One was of the Chaplin family tree (up to date as of book publishing, circa 1985), a newspaper clipping announcing his birth, and a picture of a child age Charlie for the Sherlock Holmes play. All three of these (especially the last one) sold me. And I have loved the book ever since!
A few years later I bought another edition of it that was published around the time of the “Chaplin” had more updated information about his family.
Below is a recent interview with David (during the coronavirus ordeal) by Dan Kamin for the Niles Essanay Silent Film Museum YouTube channel:
My Autobiography by Charles Chaplin
I don’t remember when I first read Chaplin’s autobiography. Maybe before I bought it, like from the library? I don’t know. ut When “Chaplin” came out, they re-released the book in paperback and I bought it. And then visited England about 2 years later and while in a bookstore in the airport, I found another copy, and how could I *not* buy a copy from his birth country? And so I bought that as well. I still have both of those, which the silhouette of Downey as the Tramp on the cover. Wore them out.
I loved reading about his rough childhood, getting on stage, coming to America, being scared to death of getting into movies but taking the plunge anyway.
I do hope that sometime in the near future there will be a new, or re-release, of an audiobook version. There was one I listened to years ago on cassette tape (that gives an idea how long ago! LOL) from the library.
Love these two books. Absolute must-haves for Chaplin fans or fans of movies in general.
My Father, Charlie Chaplin by Charles Chaplin, Jr.
Charlie Sr, Charlie Jr, and Lita Grey Chaplin
Another book that I really love is “My Father, Charlie Chaplin” by Charlie Chaplin Jr (one of two sons when Chaplin was married to Lita Grey). That is a lovely book. One of my favorite stories was when senior Chaplin came home, still in makeup, and came over to toddler-aged junior. Junior was confused who this strange looking man was with his father’s voice, and started to cry. Not knowing why his son was crying, Senior tried to cheer junior up, and then it dawned on him why there was crying. The makeup. So senior washed off the makeup and junior began smiling at the familiar clean face of his dad.
