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 […]
It is no secret that I love the music of Frankie Laine. I also had a wonderful friendship with him. I always surmised that Frankie thought I was kind of special because he seemed always a bit amused by the fact that this young kid idolized him. Whatever his feelings were regarding me, he was […]
As I sit here, I wonder what more I can write about the great Frankie Laine. It seems I have written everything I know about him. I have included snippets from my book, Reaching for a Star, and my own personal recollections about the times I have spent with Frankie. I have detailed my vast […]