Richard Marx - 9-16

Today's installment of the continuing saga, Record Albums of the American Treasure Tour, focuses on Chicago's own Richard Marx:

Marx began his singing career as a back-up artist for the likes of Madonna and Whitney Houston before recording his own songs, many of them power ballads in a classic rock style.  He has the distinction of being the solo musician to have his first seven releases hit the Billboard 100, all of which reached the top five (the fourth, fifth and sixth all making number one).  This first album (above), released in 1987, includes the songs "Don't Mean Nothing," "Endless Summer Nights," and "Hold On to the Nights."  It took no time before Marx headlined his own concert tours.  His first three albums reached platinum status.  He continues to make music, although his output receives less commercial attention today.  A recent song "Long Hot Summer," represents the fourth decade during which Marx reached the top of the charts.

Question:

Which Marx appeared in only five of the Marx Brothers movies?
a)  Karl
b)  Chico
c)  Richard
d)  Zeppo
e)  Groucho

Answer below

Today in History

On this date in 1920, a horse-drawn wagon was left in front of the J.P. Morgan building on Wall Street by an unknown terrorist.  At 12:01pm, explosives inside the wagon exploded and caused 38 deaths and 143 injuries.  The building itself was left largely unharmed, excepting scars that remain to this day.

Despite the tragedy of the event, the explosion in no way stopped business for the day and the New York Stock Exchange remained open.

The trial of former Panamanian dictator Manuel Noriega began on this date in 1991 in the United States.  Ruled guilty of drug trafficking, racketeering and money laundering, he spent fifteen years in American prison prior to his extradition to Paris for further trials.  He is currently back in Panama, and still in jail.

Births

Today is Richard Marx's birthday.  He turns fifty years old today.

Great American guitarist B.B. King is celebrating 88 years today, having been born in 1925.  His career has spanned six decades, for which he has been recognized by induction into both the Blues and Rock & Roll Halls of Fame.  George W. Bush awarded him the Presidential Metal of Freedom in 2006, as well.  An icon of American music, King represents the American dream, having grown up in a shack on a plantation outside of Berclair, Mississippi to become the famed musician that he is.

Quote:

There are so many sounds I still want to make, so many things I haven't yet done.  -- B.B. King

Answer:  d)

Crystal Gale - 9-17

Brenda Gail Webb is nineteen years younger than her sister Loretta.  When Loretta married Oliver Lynn, she took on his name and became Loretta Lynn.  When Brenda decided to pursue her own career in music, she was encouraged change her name to avoid confusion with her contemporary, Brenda Lee.  Inspired by a Krystal hamburger store, she became Crystal Gayle, and eventually accumulated twenty number one hits on the country music charts, during the 1970s and 1980s, recording twenty-two studio albums and eleven compilation albums.  Two of the albums adorning the walls of the American Treasure Tour are:

We Must Believe In Magic was released in 1977, including her hit single "Don't It Make My Brown Eyes Blue," and went platinum.

Miss the Mississippi came out two years later and contained three hits for Gayle:  "Half the Way," "It's Like We Never Said Goodbye," and "The Blue Side."

Gayle married her high school sweetheart, with whom she is still together, living in Nashville while touring for her fans.

Question:

What Native American tribe awarded Gayle with a Medal of Honor at a ceremony in Tahlequah, Oklahoma in the year 2000?

a)  Sioux

b)  Cherokee

c)  Arapaho

d)  Crow

e)  Lenni Lenape

Answer Below

Today in History

September 17th, 1776, the colony of New Spain began the fortification of a space in Alta California in the effort to establish a claim to the land.  This fort became known as the Presidio, and was located in the San Francisco Bay.  Mexico claimed the land when they became independent from Spain, and the United States took it over in 1848 when Mexico ceded it after the Mexican-American War.  Shortly thereafter, gold was discovered in the mountains east of San Francisco, compelling the region to become extremely important to gold rushers and America in general.  California received statehood in 1850, only two years later.

The Battle of Antietam was fought between General George B. McClellan's Union forces and the Confederates under Robert E. Lee.  The bloodiest day in the American Civil War, 22,717 men were deemed missing, wounded, or dead.

Births

Born in Scotland in the year 1854, David Dunbar Buick migrated to the United States at the age of two, and they settled in Detroit.  

A natural tinkerer, Buick started his career in the plumbing field, then invented a lawn sprinkler, and methods to effectively coat cast iron with enamel that became a popular cover for bathtubs.  At the age of forty-five, Buick began his first company associated with the production of automobiles in a company that used his name.  Buick's fortunes rose and fell, and by the time of his death at age seventy-four from colon cancer, he was in poverty.

Sharing a birthday with David Dunbar Buick is Supreme Court Chief Justice Warren Burger.  Born in Saint Paul, Minnesota the son of a traveling salesman, Burger received his law degree magna cum laude in 1931 and became a distinguished lawyer in Minnesota, prior to his appointment by President Richard M. Nixon in 1969 as Chief Justice, following Earl Warren in the position.  Considered a critic of Warren's court, Burger surprised many by upholding decisions made by his predecessor.  He resigned his post in 1986, and passed away nine years later.

Quote:

Crime and the fear of crime have permeated the fabric of American life.  -- Warren Burger

Answer:  b)

K-Tel's Star Power - 9-18

K-Tel records was founded by former door-to-door salesman Philip Kives of Winnipeg, Manitoba.  Kives' first compilation album, available in 1966, predated the creation of K-Tel.  25 Great Country Artists Singing Their Original Hits was supposed to be a one-time product, but it sold so well it compelled K-Tel to greatness, and something of a notoriety with the albums they presented, mostly using television commercials as their primary form of advertisement.

Star Power was released in 1978.  A time capsule for the year, it included many popular hits of the day, among them Meco's interpretation of the "Star Wars Title Theme," "Cold As Ice," by Foreigner, the Bay City Rollers hit "You Make Me Believe in Magic," and many more!  K-Tel remained a popular source for multi-star compilations into the 1990s, and has since diversified into other markets while still remaining a presence in the music industry.

Question:

Vinyl records an a repository for music that dominated the market during the twentieth century.  Prior to the record, music was stored on a phonograph cylinder, while it was eventually replaced by the compact disc.  What was the most common rotational speed at which the majority of full-length records were played after the 1930s?

a)  78 rpm (rotations per minute)

b)  45 rpm

c)  10"

d)  33-1/3 rpm

e)  Tony Orlando and Dawn

Answer Below

Today in History:

The United States Congress passed into law the Fugitive Slave Law on this day as part of the Compromise of 1850 designed to prevent Civil War.  The Fugitive Slave Law stated that it was a legal obligation for all suspected runaway slaves to be arrested and returned to their owners.  The suspect was not permitted to defend themselves physically or legally and, rather than reduce the tensions in the country, it served to intensify them as free African Americans were arrested without recourse and abolitionists protested these injustices.

The National Security Act of 1947 designated the Air Force an independent branch of the United States Military on this date sixty-six years ago.  

Prior to 1947, air force departments were subordinate divisions of the Army and the Navy, and it has since become the largest air force in the world.

Births

Professional voice actor June Foray was born on September 18, 1917.  She turns 96 years old today.  Although few Americans may know her by name, it is almost inevitable that they have heard her, as her career mirrors the history of 20th-century animation through her voice work in the 1950 Disney film Cinderella as the uncredited voice of Lucifer the Cat, Granny from Warner Brothers' Tweety and Sylvester cartoons, Rocky the Flying Squirrel from Jay Ward's Rocky and Bullwinkle and Smurfette from the cartoon series The Smurfs.

Former teen idol Frankie Avalon celebrates his 73rd birthday today as well.  Familiar to many baby boomers as a singer and movie star often coupled with Annette Funicello in beach-themed comedies, Avalon reached the top of the Billboard charts with thirty-one songs he performed between the late-fifties and the sixties.  He continues to perform, showing off his charm and self-aware sense of humor in reality shows and performances.

Quote: 

I think today's music stinks.  I really do mean that.  -- Frankie Avalon

Answer:  d)

The Monkees - 9-20

The Monkees.  Michael Nesmith, Mickey Dolenz, Peter Tork and Davy Jones.  If you heard of the Monkees, it's very likely you know who are in the band.  Four performers brought together during the height of Beatlemania as the American answer to the British band, the Monkees reached the heights of popularity between the years 1966 and 1970.  Brought together by television producer Don Kirshner, the program lasted only two seasons, but it served as a springboard that launched the four previously-unknown musicians to international stardom and musical success that managed to outsell the Beatles.

More of the Monkees, displayed prominently on the music wall of the American Treasure Tour's Music Room, was their most successful.  In fact, it is considered the third biggest-selling album of the entire decade of the 1960s, including such songs as "I'm a Believer" and "(I'm Not Your) Stepping Stone."  Rather than ride the wave graciously, the members of the band were displeased after the release of the album for the simple reason that it in no way reflected their own artistic sentiments.  They were not permitted by Kirshner to write or record the music, only to sing the lyrics of other musicians.  For their next album, Headquarters, the band was granted permission to record their own music and, while it may not have reached the popularity of More of the Monkees, the result inspired much greater satisfaction for the boys.

Question:

After the Monkees' television series was cancelled, the band filmed one movie, Head.  What future mega-star was involved in writing the script for the film?

a)  Macauley Culkin

b)  Robert Redford

c)  Meryl Streep

d)  Steve Martin

e)  Jack Nicholson

Answer Below

Today in History:

The 263rd day of 2013, today is the astronomical start of Autumn (unless you live south of the equator, in which case today starts Spring).

One day after the untimely death of James Garfield in 1881, Chester Arthur was inaugurated the 21st president of the United States.

Arthur was a New York Republican considered by many to be a member of the political machine that ran the government of the state.  The members of the machine compelled him into the vice presidency out of a desire to have a loyal servant in Washington, but they were taken by surprise when his new position of power inspired Arthur to strive for civil service reform.  My question is this:  who ran the government after Garfield's death at 10:20p.m. on the 19th and prior to Arthur's taking office at 2:15a.m. on the 20th?  For almost four hours, the country had no president.

On a much happier note, the great tennis battle of the sexes was fought on this date in 1973 in the Houston Astrodome, Houston, Texas.  The contenders were the feminist Billie Jean King and the misogynist Bobby Riggs.  King resolutely defeated Riggs in three matches, although some critics of King declaimed her skills because she was 26 years younger than Riggs.  Regardless, there is no question of the results of the day...

Births:

Two days ago, we celebrated the birthday of June Foray, the voice actor who gave Rocky the Flying Squirrel his voice in the 1960s Rocky and Bullwinkle cartoons.  Today, the creator of that cartoon gets his due.  Jay Ward was born on this date in 1920.  During his 69 years, he created memorable characters that

entertained the young and old alike, with humor that reached many levels.  Characters such as Boris and Natasha, Peabody and Sherman, Dudley Do-Right, George of the Jungle and, of course, Super Chicken all came from the creative mind of Ward.

Character actor Gary Cole turns 57 today.  Although rarely a leading actor, Cole has complemented many films and television shows with his performances, ranging from comedy to drama and horror.  Some of his most memorable roles include that of Bill Lumbergh in the cult favorite Office Space and Mike Brady in the Brady Bunch movies of the 1990s.  His voice talents have also been used for many modern animated programs, including Family Guy and The Penguins of Madagascar.

Quote:

I may be president of the United States, but my private life is nobody's damned business.  -- Chester Arthur

Answer:  e)

Semi-Tough - 9-23

In the never-ending effort to keep fans of the American Treasure Tour blog interested and engaged, we will change things up a little today.  Instead of continuing our series on the albums adorning the walls of the ATT Music Room, we are going to...return to the movie posters!  Going a little crazy on a Monday, I know!

Today's feature film is Semi-Tough, a vehicle giving the youthful duo of Burt Reynolds and Kris Kristofferson the chance to show off their charms as football players Billy Clyde Puckett and Marvin "Shake" Tiller (respectively) vying for the attention of their attractive young roommate, Barbara Jane Bookman, played by Jill Clayburgh.  Directed by Michael Ritchie, the film received mixed reviews criticizing a sloppy script with some superior comedy.

Question:

Burt Reynolds has been acting since his debut in 1959 on the television series Riverboat, often playing athletes or masculine heroes.  In  the 1972 film Deliverance, he gave one of the best performances of his career, playing a humbled anti-hero opposite Jon Voight, Ned Beatty, and Ronny Cox.  What happens to Reynolds' character, Lewis Medlock, in the film that takes him out of commission?

a)  He falls off a cliff

b)  He gets shot

c)  He breaks his leg

d)  He is killed by backwoods locals

e)  He is drowned in the river

Answer below.

Today in History:

September 23rd, 1845 was the day that the New York-based Knickerbockers Baseball Club was founded.  The first team to play using the modern rules familiar to fans today.  Four years later, the club designed and wore their own uniforms, also considered the first of the sport.  The games took place across the Hudson River from Manhattan in the town of Hoboken.  Because some of the players did not want to travel so far from home, they abandoned the team and eventually started their own, the New York Nine.

Richard Milhouse Nixon was the vice president under Eisenhower, between 1953 and 1961, but that almost never happened.  While campaigning in 1952, Nixon was accused of unacceptable practices for political expenses during his tenure in the Congress.

Nixon gave a speech on national television on this date to defend himself, confronting those who condemned him in front of the American public in what turned out to be a career-saving move.  Famously identified as the "Checkers Speech," Nixon described himself as completely innocent of receiving any gifts except that of a dog named Checkers, which he refused to give back because of the affection his children held for the dog.

Births:

Mickey Rooney turns 93 years old today.  Born in 1920, the 5'2" New Yorker first walked onto a stage in his father's vaudeville show at seventeen months old, and has been a performer ever since.  The first time he stood in front of a camera was at the age of seven, and he has not wandered far from the limelight since then.  As a teenager, Rooney starred opposite Judy Garland in the Andy Hardy movies, wherein the duo performed song and dance as they entertained audiences during the Great Depression.  He has since been recognized as an accomplished performer in movies, television, and on the stage.  Rooney has also developed some notoriety for his private life, as he has been married eight times.

Today is also the birthday of actress Elizabeth Pena.  Born in Elizabeth, New Jersey, has done much to 

advance the cause of Latin American culture in the United States.  The daughter of Cuban immigrants, Pena has acted in and directed television and movies since the late-1970s.

Quotes:

Always get married in the morning.  That way if it doesn't work out, you haven't wasted the whole day.  --Mickey Rooney.

Answer:  c)

Burl Ives - 9-19

Vinyl.  Records.  That invention that allowed the average person the chance to listen to the music previously heard only in concerts, live performances, or orchestrions.  Singers have come and gone, but their music lives on.  One such survivor is Burl Ives, known by many as the narrator for the classic Rankin & Bass Christmas special Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer, but also an accomplished musician.  Like so many others, his records adorn the walls of the ATT Music Room.

While Ives reached the big screen in movies including Jules Verne's Rocket to the Moon and Two Moon Junction, he also performed live on stage as well as on television.  His recording career spanned the 1940s through the 1970s.  "Sings ... for Fun" was released in 1956, and included such tracks as "Woolie Boogie Bee," "The Three Jolly Huntsmen," "Big Rock Candy Mountain," and "Goober Peas."  

Question:

In 1950, Burl Ives was accused by what federal committee of having Communist leanings?

a)  House Un-American Actvities Committee

b)  Nazi War Crimes and Japanese Imperial Government Records Committee

c)  Privacy and Civil Liberties Oversight Board

d)  Committee on Foreign Investments in the United States

e)  Chocolate

Answer below

Today in History

September 19th, 1881 was a day of mourning for the United States of America, as the country struggled with the loss of its sitting president, James Garfield.

Garfield lingered for months after being shot by Charles Guiteau at a train station in Washington, DC.  His injuries did not directly cause the death of Garfield, however.  It was more likely the poor practice of the doctors who aided him that allowed for infection to set in that proved fatal for the 20th president.  His vice president, Chester Arthur, took over the seat of government upon his passing. 

In 1946, Cannes, France held their first annual film festival, which had been held up a few years because of World War II.  It has since become an important event for movie makers and distributors.  Many films both international and American have been discovered at this event.

Births

Born on this date in 1913, Frances Farmer was an American actress who starred in a number of movies between the 1930s and 1940s, but who is more famous for her life off-screen. 

In 1943, Farmer was arrested in Hollywood for erratic behavior and placed in psychiatric care. Diagnosed a paranoid schizophrenic, her family checked her into a psychiatric hospital where she received a number of electro-convulsive shock treatments.  Upon her release, she promptly ran away and decried her therapy and her experience at the asylum as an "unbearable terror."  Repeated visits to the asylum afterwards led to questions that remain unresolved as to whether she was illegally lobotomized.  Her life after her institutionalization went well as long as she remained even tempered.  She died of cancer at the age of 56.

The American comedian Jimmy Fallon turns 39 today.  While some critics consider him crazy, others embrace his wacky sense of humor.  Skilled at impersonations, Fallon was hired for Saturday Night Live after doing stand-up shows.  He was a member of the cast for five years, prior to taking on feature films and becoming host for his own talk show.  His popularity remains high, and he is slated to replace Jay Leno next year as the host of NBC's The Tonight Show.

Quote:

If a person is treated like a patient, they are apt to perform like one.  -- Frances Farmer.

Answer:  a)

Kris Kristofferson - 9-25

We here at the American Treasure Tour blog are flattered by the devoted attention you give to the important information available here.  That said, we are confident you will recall our post made two full days ago dedicated to the film Semi-Tough starring Burt Reynolds, Jill Clayburgh, and Kris Kristofferson.  It comes up again today as we highlight another way Kris Kristofferson has reached our audience, specifically in song.

Kristofferson's album The Silver Tongued Devil and I was released in 1971, and includes a spoken word explanation of Kristofferson's inspiration of different celebrities of the era for the songs included.  Johnny Cash, Dennis Hopper and Janis Joplin were three of those other artists.  The album did well in both the country and pop charts, and also received a mention in the 1976 Martin Scorcese film Taxi Driver.

Question:

In 1985, Kris Kristofferson joined three other musicians to create the country music supergroup The Highwaymen.  Johnny Cash and Willie Nelson were two of the other members.  Who was the fourth?

a)  Johnny Paycheck

b)  Dennis Hopper

c)  Roy Orbison

d)  Waylon Jennings

e)  Dolly Parton

Answer Below

Today in History

One of the problems many Americans saw in the new Constitution, intended to replace the Articles of Confederation that had been adopted during the Revolutionary War but that were designed to limit the power of the federal government, was that there were no written protections for individuals.  That is why, on this day in 1789, the United States Congress voted into law the Bill of Rights, the first ten amendments to be added to the Constitution designed specifically for that purpose.  Since then, seventeen more amendments have been added, which confirm the timelessness of this very important document.

"Jimmy" Doolittle, best known for posterity as the head of an air raid against the mainland of Japan after the successful attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7th, 1941, first made history on September 25th, 1929

when he proved it was possible to fly an airplane blind.  Using instruments during inclement weather, his was the first flight during which an aviator could safely take off, fly, and land with limited visibility.

Births

September 25th, 1897 is a day during which we should celebrate American literature, for it was the birthday of Mississippi's own William Faulkner.  The author of plays, short stories, novels, screenplays and screenplays, Faulkner won the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1949.  His works include The Sound and the Fury, Absalom Absalom!, As I Lay Dying, and many other highly-regarded pieces that depict life in the South.  His talents were also used to adapt the works of others for the cinema, including Hemingway's To Have and Have Not, released in 1944.

1929 was the year in which Barbara Walters entered the world.  Baby Barbara was born in Boston, the daughter of Jewish immigrants who escaped to the United States to avoid the eastern European pogroms of the late-19th century and early-20th century.  Walters' natural ability to put interview subjects at ease and to

ask thought-provoking questions made her internationally famous, and respected as one of the most-accomplished women to have reached prominence in news reporting.  She has been ranked one of the greatest television stars of all time by TV Guide magazine.

Quote:

Deep breaths are very helpful at shallow parties.  -- Barbara Walters

Answer:  d) 

Silver Spurs - 9-26

The 1936 film Silver Spurs stars Buck Jones as Jim Fentriss, the wealthy cattleman waiting out rustlers led by Robert Frazer's Art Holden.  Accused of cowardice by leading lady Muriel Evans, Fentriss waits until the end of the film before stepping up to fight for justice.  This western also stars "Gabby" Hayes, which should be enough for fans of the golden age of film to search this film out.  The poster for this movie is available to admire on the wall of the Music Room at the ATT.  Another film named Silver Spurs was released seven years later starring Roy Rogers as a man set-up for a murder he did not commit.

Question:

George "Gabby" Hayes was a character actor who performed in almost two hundred films between the late-1920s and 1950.  He became closely associated with westerns, often as the sidekick to the main man, including Roy Rogers, John Wayne, and Randolph Scott (although, ironically, he was not in the Rogers' version of Silver Spurs).  What was the name of the television show Hayes hosted after he retired from films?

a)  The George Hayes Show

b)  Gabby

c)  The Gabby Hayes Show

d)  Westerns a la Mode

e)  Mr. Hayes, I Presume?

Answer Below

Today in History

The importance of events that occurred on this date in 1789 has often been overlooked by history; however, the very first president of the United States, George Washington, appointed many of the original founding fathers in positions of authority in his new government, the first major republic in the modern world:  Thomas Jefferson became his first Secretary of State, John Jay the first Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, and Edmund Randolph was appointed the first Attorney General.  The strength of the federal government would rely on the authority of the men and women who would hold these - and other Cabinet - positions.

Today in 1973 was the first time the Concorde made the transatlantic flight across the Atlantic Ocean, making record time.  It could travel from New York City to London in less than three hours, more than half that of a traditional flight.  For thirty years, the Concorde represented human technology at its finest, the final flight being scheduled for 2003.  The collective expenses of fuel and maintenance, as well as the disruption in flying inspired by the September 11th terrorist attacks, compelled the planes to be retired.  

Births

Lewis Hine was born in Oshosk, Wisconsin on this day in 1874.  Hine became famous  as one of America's prominent photographers, often concentrating on the plight of the working man, including in this image of an

American power house mechanic working on a steam pump.  His images devoted to child laborers served to evoke sympathy to help protect and provide education for the exploited young.  Although largely unappreciated during his own lifetime, Hine's photographs serve as compelling reminders of the conditions under which workers toiled in the first quarter of the twentieth century.

It has taken long enough for the ATT blog to celebrate the birth of an important American composer, but we need hold our breath no longer.  George Gershwin was born in 1898, the son of Russian Jews who emigrated to the United States in the effort to avoid antisemitic hostilities in the homeland.  Growing up in New York City, Gershwin was exposed to music on Tin Pan Alley as a "song plugger," playing music in stores to inspire sales of sheet music, until he started writing his own music.  Gershwin became a highly accomplished composer prior to his untimely death at the age of 38, and one of America's favorites.

Quote

If I could tell the story in words, I wouldn't need to lug around a camera.  -- Lewis Hine

Answer:  c)

Seeburg - 9-28

We at the American Treasure Tour blog have spent many days talking about the lower-case treasures that adorn the walls of the Music Room at ATT, specifically the record albums and movie posters.  Today, I would like to discuss one of the companies that manufactured the nickelodeons we proudly display on the floor of the Music Room.  Specifically, I would like to introduce you to the Seeburg Company.

In 1887, Justus Seeburg took a job working in Chicago's burgeoning piano industry, prior to breaking out on his own twenty years later.  He purchased the pianos of other companies, then installed the mechanisms to automate them.  With success, he bought up the Marshall Piano Company, making his Seeburg Company completely self-sufficient.  He produced orchestrions of exceptional beauty and sound quality, continuing with great success until the market failed in 1928, just prior to the dawn of the Great Depression.  Seeburg diversified into jukeboxes, becoming famous for their "trash can" jukeboxes, and for the iconic image at the beginning of the popular television show Happy Days, which is a Seeburg jukebox.  Today, the Seeburg name exists only in memory, as the company closed its doors years ago.

Question:
The Seeburg orchestrion included in the semi-circle of nickelodeons in the ATT Music Room has two wooden statues on it.  What are their names?
a)  Strength and Beauty
b)  Valor and Prowess
c)  Bill and Betty
d)  Power and Fortitude
e)  Watt and Volt

Answer Below

Today in History
The year: 1951.  The date: September 28th.  The company: CBS.  The product:  color television.  The first color televisions were made available for purchase to the general public on this date by CBS; however, it was a very short-lived experiment because there were far too few receivers produced by manufacturers in the country to translate the signals.  Television would have appeared black-and-white regardless of your set because of this.  CBS reverted back to black-and-white sets within a month's time, and it would take a few more years before color television would grace the average American home.

Twelve years after the first attempt to introduce color television to American audiences failed, disc jockey Murray the K in New York City introduced the music of four young "moptops" to the country.  It is believed

this was the day in 1958 that the Beatles' song "She Loves You" first aired, beginning a phenomenon that would impact the course of music in this country.

Quote:
We were all on this ship in the sixties, our generation, a ship going to discover the New World.  And the Beatles were in the crow's nest of that ship. -- John Lennon

Answer:  a)

Ray Charles - 9-27

Once again, it is time for the American Treasure Tour blog to discuss one of the hundreds of records that adorn the walls of the Music Room.  Today, we are going to focus on one of Ray Charles' works:

Modern Sounds in Country and Western Music, Volumes 1 & 2.  More famous for his rhythm and blues, gospel, and blues music, Charles also recorded country and western music.  His first albums came out in 1957, in which he played both original music and covers of others in what would become a familiar style for him, but he soon diversified and gained more popular exposure.  Modern Sounds... integrated soul with country and western music, and broke racial barriers.  Its financial success was complimented by great critical success, and it remains regarded as one of Charles' superior studio-recorded albums.  

Question: 

When did Ray Charles lose his vision?

a)  He was blind from birth

b)  His vision began deteriorating at the age of five, and he was blind by seven

c)  He had perfect vision until he was a teenager, when an automobile accident robbed him of sight

d)  He never lost his vision

e)  None of the above

Answer Below

Today in History

Henry Ford was arguably the most famous man to ever have a car named after him, and one of his most famous cars was the Model T.  The first Ford Model T to ever leave the factory was on this date in 1908.

The Model T was Ford's first effort at assembly line production using interchangeable parts, intended as an affordable form of transportation for middle class Americans.  Using Ford's own words:

"I will build a car for the great multitude. It will be large enough for the family, but small enough for the individual to run and care for. It will be constructed of the best materials, by the best men to be hired, after the simplest designs that modern engineering can devise. But it will be low in price that no man making a good salary will be unable to own one-and enjoy with his family the blessing of hours of pleasure in God's great open spaces."-Henry Ford

(This quote was borrowed from the modelt.org website)

If you are interested in seeing one of Ford's Model T's and you haven't been already, run - don't walk! (but run carefully) - to the American Treasure Tour.  You will find several of them in the ATT Toy Box!

Another transportation first occurred on this day.  This time in 1941, when the first Liberty ship was launched to help fight the war effort.  Although the United States would remain officially neutral in World War 2 for three more months, Liberty ships were one of many ways Franklin Roosevelt supported the Allied defense against Axis hostilities.  The first Liberty ship was the U.S.S. Patrick Henry, launched out of Bethlehem-Fairfield Shipyard in Baltimore, Maryland.  2,710 were ultimately made between 1941 and 1945. Only two of them remain today, both as floating museums - the SS Jeremiah O'Brien and the SS John W Brown.

Births

Famous magicians have come and gone over the course of history, Houdini being one of the most famous ever.  Today, we are going to celebrate the birth and life of Harry Blackstone, Sr.  Blackstone was born in 

Chicago, Illinois in the year 1885, and began performing as a teenager.  Many of the tricks that Blackstone used are familiar to people today, yet his swanky style and lack of direct interaction with the audience often held them enthralled.  He "sawed" his assistants in half using an electric circular saw, made a birdcage disappear out of the hands of children from the audience, and performed with USO shows during World War II.  Blackstone continued entertaining people from the Magic Castle in Los Angeles prior to his death in 1965.

1947 was the year Marvin Lee Aday was born on September 27th in Dallas, Texas.  After a relatively normal childhood, Aday moved to Los Angeles, where he sang vocals for a band called Meat Loaf Soul in various clubs.  Although the name of the band frequently changed, Aday became known by the name Meat Loaf, and performed in musical productions including Hair (not with Melba Moore), and The Rocky Horror Picture Show.  He performed in the movie version of the latter as well.  His fame remained moderate until 1978, when his album Bat Out of Hell was released, including the song "Paradise by the Dashboard Light."  The album is considered one of the best-selling albums of all time, a success Meat Loaf has yet to replicate.  More recently, he starred in the cult favorite Fight Club along with Brad Pitt and Edward Norton.

Quote:

Coming together is a beginning;  keeping together is progress; working together is success.  - Henry Ford

Answer:  b) 

Melba Moore - 9-24

Hello, and welcome back to the American Treasure Tour's tour of the record wall!  Located in the Music Room of ATT are dozens of record albums covering many different genres from the 1950s through the 1990s.  Today, we will discuss the album Melba, dating from 1976.

Hill sang(sings) rhythm and blues under the name of Melba Moore.  Her career began on Broadway, as one of the early cast members for the 1967 musical Hair.  Her involvement in Broadway has continued through the decades, while the prime of her recording career spanned the seventies through the nineties, including two albums called Melba, one from 1976 with Buddha records, the second with Epic Records two years later.  She's had a number of hits on the R & B charts as she remains in the industry.

Question:

One of the many Broadway musicals Melba Moore has performed in is Les Miserables.  She was part of the cast for the year 1995, prior to moving on to other projects.  Les Miserable has been translated into film a number of times.  During its most recent incarnation, which actor received an Academy Award for their performance?

a)  Anne Hathaway

b)  Russell Crowe

c)  Sasha Barron Cohen

d)  Hugh Jackman

e)  Helena Bonham Carter

Answer Below

Today In History

It was this date in 1780 when the treachery of American Revolutionary General Benedict Arnold was exposed upon the accidental discovery of plans had drawn up of the Patriot fort at West Point on the person of his British handler Major John Andre.  Arnold had had a series of reversals in his military career after his involvement in the victory at Saratoga which left him injured and under scrutiny by military council.  His marriage to Loyalist Peggy Shippen did not improve matters for him, and it is now believed that his young, pretty wife influenced his decision to betray the cause to the British.  Fortunately for the Patriots, the capture of Andre by highwaymen in Tarrytown, New York, prevented the plans to reach their final destination although Arnold had enough time to make his own escape.  He never received American justice and lived out the remainder of his life as a British citizen.

The process of declaring a historical or natural site a national park requires approval through Congress, which can require finagling and ponderous debate due to the potential for conflicting interests intent to slow down the process.  On this date in 1906, President Theodore Roosevelt got around that problem by passing the Antiquities Act, which he used to create the nation's first national monument, Devil's Tower, in northeastern Wyoming.  Although national monuments receive less governmental protections than national parks do, they still provide for the care and preservation of sites that may otherwise not have received the sufficient votes for park status.  There are currently 108 national monuments in an organization including 401 sits across the country.

Births

On this day in 1755 was born John Marshall, a Revolutionary War veteran and one of the greatest legal minds ever to emerge in the United States.  Appointed the fourth man to be Chief Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court in the year 1801 by outgoing President John Adams, Marshall did more for American jurisprudence than arguably any other person.  He remains the longest-standing Chief Justice, having retained the position for 34 years.

Jim Henson was born on September 24th, 1936.  His impact on the world of entertainment and children's education cannot be fully assessed.  He first dabbled in the art of puppetry in the mid-50s, and managed to turn it into a lifetime specialty, developing now-famous muppets including Kermit the Frog, Big Bird, and the 

entire cast of The Muppet Show.  Between Sesame Street, The Muppet Show, and Fraggle Rock, Jim Henson reached an international audience of children of all ages.  His characters have appeared on television, in movies, and in multiple languages, educating the world on how to get along and be silly.

Quote:  When I was young, my ambition was to be one of the people who made a difference in the world.  My hope is to leave the world a little better for having been there.  -- Jim Henson

Answer:  a)  Best Supporting Actress

Lynn Anderson - 9-30

Ms. Lynn Anderson just turned 66 four days ago, which isn't to say she is slowing down in her career as a chart-topping country music singer.  Anderson's most famous recording, "I Never Promised You) A Rose Garden," became a worldwide mega-hit, while she has been honored with many awards.  We are returning

to our Music Room album wall to discuss this prominent musician and her career.  Promises, Promises was Anderson's sophomre studio album, released in 1967, the same year as its predecessor, Ride, Ride, Ride.  It included the top ten hit "No Other Time," and helped pave the way for her regular appearances on the popular The Lawrence Welk Show that year which continued for two years, prior to her breaking out on her own as she became increasingly popular.  1970 marked the release of "Rose Garden," and she has continued to record her music ever since, most recently three years ago.  

Question:

Which state celebrates Lynn Anderson day on June 15th?

a)  North Dakota

b)  Texas

c)  North Carolina

d)  Tennessee

e)  New Mexico

Answer Below

Today in History

Deep in the throes of the Great Depression, one of the greatest advances in hydroelectric power was dedicated on this day in 1935.  The Hoover Dam, named after the 31st President of the United States, was built on the Colorado River between Nevada and Arizona at great cost, with over one hundred deaths due to accidents out of a crew of over a thousand people.  Considered a major technological marvel, the Dam has also become a major tourist attractions to visitors of the region, previously a forbidding desert, but with the dam's developing of Lake Mead, an attractive site for water activities.

Jump ahead fourteen years.  The Great Depression ended only with the declaration of war between the Allied forces and the Axis powers.  After the defeat of the Axis, relations deteriorated between former allies and the Cold War began between the United States and the Soviet Union.  When Soviet dictator Josef Stalin declared that all land access between the Americans and occupied Berlin would be closed down, the western allies instituted the Berlin Airlift.  With the endorsement of American President Harry Truman, supplies were flown into West Berlin, a bastion of democracy surrounded by Soviet forces in East Germany.  The airlift began on June 24th, 1948 and continued until this date the next year, fifteen months later.  Although the financial and human cost of the Airlift was substantial, it was considered a great moral victory for the western allies when the Soviets re-opened land access to West Berlin, never to make another challenge like that again.  Of course, the Korean War would begin soon...

Births

Truman Capote was an American original.  Born on this date in 1924, Capote began writing at a very young age.  At eleven, he knew his career would be behind a typewriter, and he proceeded to write short stories, 

plays and novels.  His most famous short story was Breakfast at Tiffany's, which was adapted into a popular film by director Blake Edwards and starring Audrey Hepburn and George Peppard, but he gained international fame with what is considered the first true crime novel to be published in the United States, In Cold Blood.  Based on a 1959 murder case in the bucolic town of Holcomb, Kansas, the book describes the gruesome details of the crime and the murderers.  Capote never published another complete book after In Cold Blood; however, he did remain in the public eye afterwards.  One of his most memorable performances was in the delightful Neil Simon comedy Murder By Death, released in 1976.  Although its poster is sadly not on the walls of the ATT Music Room wall, it is one of the blog's very favorite films.

The Bradys are getting older!  Oldest brother Greg, aka Barry William Blenkhorn (aka Barry Williams), turns 54 today.  

Quotes:

I don't think of myself as a role model.  I try to live in a compassionate, considerate and positive way.  The only advice I can offer is to find what you love to do, find the joy in it, and express yourself through your passion.  -- Barry Williams

Answer:  d)

Elton John - 9-13

Flamboyant British musician Elton John receives a call-out on today's American Treasure Tour blog for his 1974 album Caribou.

Reginald Kenneth Dwight, a.k.a. Elton John, was born in 1947 and grew up in a fairly strict home.  Despite (or because of) his father's insistence that he take up banking as a career, John embraced a career in music, and he became increasingly associated with the outlandish costumes and sunglasses he wore during the first decades of a highly distinguished and successful career lasting over five decades.  He has won an Oscar, a Golden Globe, a Tony, six Grammys and a British knighthood.  Caribou, a number one album for John, is not considered one of his greatest, despite that the songs "The Bitch is Back" and "Don't Let the Sun Go Down on Me" were introduced on it.

Question:

Elton John re-released his own hit song "Candle in the Wind" in 1997 to celebrate the life of Princess Diana.  It proceeded to become the best selling single in both the United Kingdom and the United States.  The original 1973 version was written to honor what American movie actress?

a)  Charlize Theron

b)  Judy Garland

c)  Elizabeth Taylor

d)  Marilyn Monroe

e)  Veronica Lake

 Answer Below

Today in History

On this date in 1899, Henry Hale Bliss was struck by an electric-powered taxi cab as he disembarked from a streetcar at the intersection of West  74th Street and Central Park West in New York City.  

His death the next day due to complications from the accident made him the first recorded fatality in the western hemisphere due to a automobile collision. A plaque was placed at the intersection during its centennial to promote safety.

A senatorial election in the state of Maine on this day in 1948 found Margaret Madeline Chase Smith the victor, effectively making her the first woman to have held office both in the Senate and the House of Representatives.  She pursued the Republican nomination in the 1964 presidential election as well, becoming the first woman to be officially considered for that post by a major political party.

Births

Walter Reed was born on September 13th, 1851.  He enrolled as a teenager at the University of Virginia, and became the youngest student to graduate from their distinguished medical school prior to his eighteenth birthday, a distinction he still holds to this day.  He eventually joined the U.S. Army Medical Corps, and held positions at different bases across the country prior to joining the U.S. Army Yellow Fever Commission in Cuba.  Although he gives credit to others for the discovery that certain mosquitoes are carriers for yellow fever, Reed traditionally receives credit for this all-important discovery.  He passed away at the age of fifty-one due to complications from a ruptured appendix.

In 1939, American actor Richard Kiel came into the world.  A former cemetery plot salesman, Kiel became

most familiar to movie-going fans as Jaws, a character in two of the Roger Moore James Bond films The Spy Who Loved Me and Moonraker.  Standing almost 7'2", Kiel is often cast in roles as a villain.

Quote:

To be loved is important as is having a sense of accomplishment, but love is equally important in life especially when it is combined with taking action to do something for someone else to make their life better.  -- Richard Kiel

Answer:  d)

Friday The 13th

Jackie Gleason - 9-12

Best known for his work playing Ralph Kramden in the comedy-favorite television series The Honeymooners, Jackie Gleason was also a popular movie actor and a well-regarded band leader.  How Sweet It Is (For Lovers) was the forty-fourth album Gleason released in a musical career that spanned from the 1950s through to the early-seventies.  He ultimately released fifty-seven albums during his musical career.  How Sweet It Is reached the seventy-first place in the Billboard Top 100.  

Question:

Jackie Gleason was nominated for a Best Supporting Oscar award for what movie:

a)  The Hustler

b)  Smokey and the Bandit

c)  The Color of Money

d)  The Toy

e)  The Honeymooners

Answer Below

Today in History

On September 12th, in the year 1964, the United States Congress designated Canyonlands as a national park.

Located in Southeastern Utah, erosion inspired by the Colorado River created the majestic landscape that makes it comparable to its more-famous neighbor, the Grand Canyon.  Indeed, the sole reason many Americans may be aware of it at all is because of the memorable last scene in the 1991 film Thelma & Louise.

Births

Jesse Owens was born in 1913 in segregated Oakville, Alabama.  A famous African-American sprint runner, Owens won four Olympic Gold Medals at the 1936 Summer Olympics in Germany, famously defeating athletes selected by Hitler's Nazis to show off to the world their "Aryan racial superiority."  

Owens displayed great grace in victory and became a national celebrity after the games.  When asked how he was able to run so quickly, he explained that. "I let my feet spend as little time on the ground as possible.  From the air, fast down, and from the ground, fast up."

Barry White would have celebrated his sixty-ninth birthday today were it not for his untimely death.  The highly-popular, award-winning singer with the resonant voice passed away ten years ago, after a career spanning four decades and many awards.

Quote:

Disco deserved a better name, a beautiful name because it was a beautiful art form.  It made the consumer beautiful.  The consumer was the star. -- Barry White

Answer:  a)

Carpenters - 9-11

The American Treasure Tour blog continues its tour of our record collection.  Yes, the 33-1/3 records that adorn the walls of both the Music Room and the Toy Box are finally getting their just due. Today, we will concentrate on the 1970 album by The Carpenters, Close to You.

Ranked the 175th (out of 500) best album of all time by Rolling Stone magazine, it includes two of the duo's most popular songs, "(They Long to Be) Close to You" and "We've Only Just Begun."  The brother and sister team recorded a handful of songs together the year prior, but in 1970, they skyrocketed to fame with this album, including twelve tracks.  One of them, "We've Only Just Begun," was originally written as a jingle for a bank commercial.  Ten albums were recorded by the band prior to Karen Carpenter's untimely death at the age of 32 due to complications associated with anorexia nervosa.  Her death helped create a national awareness for this disorder.

Question:

In 1987, film director Todd Haynes made a controversial biopic about Karen Carpenter entitled Superstar:  The Karen Carpenter Story.  Haynes did not gain legal license to use  the music Karen and her brother Richard performed and, coupled with Richard's offense at his portrayal in the film, this served as justification to ban its public distribution.  What did Haynes use to portray the characters in the film?

a)  Squirrels

b)  Cartoon animation

c)  Barbie dolls

d)  Stuffed animals

e)  Human actors

Answer below

Today in History

This date in 1978, the pinnacle of United States President Jimmy Carter's foreign affairs policy materialized with the Camp David Accords, which were intended to create a long-term peace in the Middle East, specifically between Egypt and Israel.  

Few dates in American history inspire an emotional reaction.  December 7th is one, when acknowledging the Japanese attack on the American Naval Base in Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, and September 11th is another, for the horrible events of 2001, when terrorists took over three planes and found their targets at the World Trade Center in New York City, as well as the Pentagon in Arlington, VA.  The fourth plane take over crashed outside of Shanksville, Pennsyvania, for which its passengers are justly regarded as heroes.  

Births

Brian De Palma was born today in 1940 in Newark, New Jersey.  Raised in Philadelphia, De Palma became a famous film director, known mostly for the horror film Carrie (1976), the gangster films Scarface (1983) and the superior The Untouchables (1987).  

His 1996 film Mission: Impossible was loosely inspired by the cult television show and began a movie franchise that continues, starring Tom Cruise.  De Palma has accredited Hitchcock and Godard as major influences on his own career, and indeed, some of his films borrow directly from his inspirations.

Kristy McNichols celebrates her 51st birthday today.  Best known for her work as a young actor in the 1970s in the tv series Family and a number of ABC Afterschool Specials, McNichols retired from acting in the 1990s and has maintained a somewhat low profile since then.

Quote:  

It's kinda nice to be remembered by your peers and your fans because you can achieve a lot of success and be a creep too!  But we try to be nice, just normal people.  -- Karen Carpenter

Answer:  c)