Thursday, December 2, 2010

Johnny Carson and The Rat Pack

Nobody can or ever will replace Johnny Carson. I tolerate but have never really liked David Letterman.  When Leno took the reins of the "Tonight Show", I was grinning and bearing it. I am now bored by both.

My idol, Jon Stewart, is at least topical and funny so he is my new King of Late Night. But, there will always be only one Johnny Carson. A friend of mine found this video on YouTube.  I've never heard Carson sing. Now I know why. 

This was shot at the Kiel Opera House in St. Louis in 1965. I think it was a charity event.  Shades of Mad Men with all the smoking and drinking and who knows what else.  They sure had fun.



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11 comments:

Matty said...

That's the first I've heard him sign too. He didn't sound all that bad, but nothing compared to the others.

Brian Miller said...

smiles.carson was great...i actually liked letterman...no to conan and leno...ack

Mrsupole said...

You are so right when you say that there will never be another Johnny Carson. I watched Letterman for a little bit, then switched to Leno who was more tolerable, and Conan O'Brien just seemed like a waste of time. Now I watch the HGTV channel after the news, or I just watch what I recorded on the DVR. Although lately I am just so hooked on playing "Globs" that the TV is just background noise and I only "look" at it if something sounds interesting.

Thank you so much for sharing this video, it was really great to see it. I was surprised to see Johnny Carson singing here. One must be very brave to sing with the three legends here.

I am such a bad singer that to me Johnny sounded fairly good and if you ever heard me sing then you might even say that Johnny's singing was fantastic. Most people cover their ears and run away if I start singing, even my cats have been known to run and hide. Maybe they should use my singing as a torture method to get information from the terrorists, after a few minutes of listening to me sing, I am sure they would confess everything they know. Now if only I could get paid for doing this, I could make a small fortune. LOL

God bless.

California Girl said...

Matty: It is a rare piece of footage, that's for sure.

Brian: The main things I liked on Letterman were Paul Schaffer and "Will It Float".

Mrsupole: The DOD pays big money for weapons, whether they work or not.

The Silver Fox said...

Johnny Carson was indeed the KING. When he died, quite a few friends of mine emailed me. They knew I'd be upset. That's a great clip, although I'd seen it before. My own tribute to Carson was here. Check it out!

Pat Tillett said...

What a great video!
Leno was a poor replacement in my humble opinion...

Ruth said...

It's a fantastic video. The fun is contagious. I love Martin and all of them. Love that line by Sammy Davis Jr about the back of the bus!

Carson was the best. Jon Stewart is pretty darn great though, and I can take or leave Letterman and Leno. So, we agree. :)

#1Nana said...

I grew up with the Tonight Show. When my husband and I went into the Peace Corps in 1976, the one thing I missed about TV was watching the Tonight Show before going to sleep. I agree that he was the king of late night, but I still like Letterman.

Rawknrobyn.blogspot.com said...

I agree. Jon Stewart is the only King left.

Happy holidays!
xoRobyn

California Girl said...

Foxy: went to your tribute. it is excellent.

Pat & Robyn: yeah. if it weren't for Stewart, I'd never watch tv after 11pm.

Ruth: there are quite a few videos of that night, all different. You can see them on YouTube.

Nana: thank you for visiting my blog! I think it's pretty compelling you remember missing the show while in the Peace Corps. Must have been great to be in it back then.

Bunched Undies said...

I miss Johnny too...he and Marvin Gaye are about the only late entertainers that I really miss.