Something New I was thinking the other day about what is was that made Frankie Laine so unique during his long career. It’s true, and I’ve written this before, that Frankie sang with emotion and passion. He felt every song lyric he sang. One can be unique in show business, however, but not always enjoy […]
TV Shows I am always trying to find those elusive pieces that I am missing from my Frankie Laine library. Frankie Laine was a guest on several television shows throughout his career. A number of these shows—spanning from the earliest days of television, either seem to be missing, or otherwise next to impossible to obtain […]
Carl Carl T. Fischer was not only Frankie Laine’s friend, but he was Frankie’s piano accompanist, musical director, and song-writing partner. Carl and Frankie were a team when Frankie first became world famous in 1947, when “That’s My Desire” went gold. Carl tragically died at age 42 on March 27, 1954. This utterly devastated Frankie. […]
Collection Storage I’m sitting here on this cold, snowy Iowa day, wondering what I should write about. Then I got to thinking, once again, about my Frankie Laine collection of works. I collect several things. I have a collection of the Beatles works from music to films. In my youth, the Beatles were my musical […]
Reflecting With a new year upon us, many of us find ourselves pondering our lives. As I reflected on my life, I was reminded of the 1947 Mercury recording by Frankie Laine called “But Beautiful.” I adore the opening lyrics: Love is funny, or it’s sad; or it’s quiet, or it’s mad; It’s a good […]
A Christmas Recording With the anniversary of the beginning of World War II, I began to ponder a special song Frankie Laine recorded pertaining to another war—the Korean War. That first Christmas in 1950, after the conflict had begun, there was a special concern for the children of the war regions. Frankie recorded “Merry Christmas […]
Mementos November always reminds me of the first time I met Frankie Laine in person on November 20, 1985. This was a magical day for me. In my last two writings, I had described our rather unfortunate Labor Day water misadventure and the subsequent removal of my beloved collection of Frankie Laine items to higher […]
Three Years This post marks the third year I’ve been writing these blogs for Team Frankie Laine. I consider myself both blessed and humbled since having been asked to be part of this fine organization dedicated to our “Legend of Song.” Each month I find myself wondering whether I can think of anything else to […]
Labor Day Woes It’s strange how an unfortunate event can sometimes cause one to ponder the more enjoyable aspects of life. Because of a recent incident, I rediscovered my coveted Frankie Laine collection. Iowa, along with much of the Midwest, received torrential rains during the weekend before and days after Labor Day. My wife, Marlene, […]
This July, we Iowans lost our beloved former governor, Robert Ray. Ray was governor from 1969 to 1983. He was very popular among the people of Iowa. I work at the Iowa State Capitol in Des Moines. Almost 20 years ago, I was fortunate enough to be able to meet and be photographed with this […]