The Buzz

Juber to appear at Stargazers in Colo. Springs

2012-03-01T11:11:00.003+13:00

Two-time Grammy Award-winning guitar artist Laurence Juber is heading to the Rockies with a Colorado Springs appearance.

Juber will play at 8 p.m. on Saturday, March 10, 2012, at Stargazers Theatre, 10 S. Parkside Drive, Colorado Springs. Tickets range from $15 to $20.

“I played Stargazer’s last year for the first time, sharing the stage with Peppino D‘Agostino. It’s a cool venue and I’m happy to be making a return trip with a solo headline concert,” Juber said. “I’ll be bringing some new compositions and arrangements to this show, so be prepared for few surprises as well as some favorites.”

Best known for playing lead guitar in Wings from 1978 to 1981, Juber, known as ‘LJ’, has since had a distinguished career as a solo finger-style guitarist. A world-class guitar virtuoso solo artist, composer and arranger, he fuses folk, jazz, and pop styles and creates a dynamic multi-faceted performance that belies the use of only one instrument.

Juber has released 19 acclaimed solo albums since Wings folded. His celebrated arranging skills are featured on two volumes of LJ Plays The Beatles, the first of which was voted among the all-time top ten acoustic guitar records.

The San Francisco Chronicle wrote of Juber: "He gloriously articulates the melodies and never succumbs to show-off playing. The notes spin out of the songs with such finesse and musical agility, it's hard to believe he has only 10 fingers and six strings. His playing is just short of sleight of hand and, like all magicians, he makes it seem effortless."

As a studio musician, he can be heard on recent albums from artists as diverse as Barry Manilow and Dan Hicks & the Hot Licks. He is also featured on the soundtracks to hundreds of TV shows and movies including the Academy Award-winning Good Will Hunting, the James Bond thriller The Spy Who Love Me and most recently, The Muppet Movie.

For more information visit: http://laurencejuber.com/

What: Laurence Juber
Where: Stargazers Theatre, 10 S. Parkside Dr., Colorado Springs, CO
When: 8 p.m. Saturday, March 10
Cost: $15 to $20
Information: 719-476-2200 or http://www.stargazerstheatre.com

LJ still on course and on the run

2012-01-06T10:19:00.003+13:00

More than three decades after Wings folded, Laurence Juber is a man still on the run.

The former Wings guitarist and virtuoso just may be the busiest man in the music industry.

In addition to recently playing a part on tribute albums to Bob Dylan and Linda McCartney, Juber performs almost 100 dates a year, has regular session work, conducts professional workshops, performs on soundtracks for feature films and television and has three upcoming CD releases.

"There's always something going on. Knock on wood, I'm as busy these days as I've ever been, including my days with Wings," says the affable two-time Grammy Award-winning guitar artist.

Juber is scheduled to make an East Coast swing in early 2012 with a handful of appearances in New York, New Hampshire, Connecticut and Massachusetts.

"This trip finds me playing at some new venues and making my solo Broadway debut. The jazz club ambiance of Times Square’s Iridium will no doubt encourage me to stretch out," Juber said. "I’m also looking forward to sharing the bill with Boston Blues Artist of the Year, guitar ace Johnny A, at a pair of shows at TCAN in Natick, Massachusetts. This will be my first time at New Hampshire’s excellent listening room the Tupelo Music Hall. I round out the run with an afternoon show at the Greenwich Library which I’m told has a fantastic concert hall.”

A world-class guitar virtuoso solo artist, composer and arranger, Juber fuses folk, jazz, and pop styles and creates a dynamic multi-faceted performance that belies the use of only one instrument. As a studio musician, he can be heard on recent albums from artists as diverse as Barry Manilow and Dan Hicks & the Hot Licks. He is also featured on the soundtracks to hundreds of TV shows and movies including the Academy Award-winning Good Will Hunting, the James Bond thriller The Spy Who Love Me and most recently, The Muppet Movie.

Known to his fans as LJ, Juber has released 19 acclaimed solo albums. His celebrated arranging skills are featured on two volumes of LJ Plays The Beatles, the first of which was voted among the all-time top ten acoustic guitar records. Juber says fans never tire of hearing him play their songs and he remains endlessly fascinated by their catalog.

"Every time I hear a Beatles record I gain a new appreciation for them," Juber said. "Above and beyond the analytical part of it and creating the arrangements, when I start deconstructing Beatles songs, I find unexpected things. I can never listen to a Beatles record twice and hear exactly the same thing. There’s always something that I’ve missed, or a new discovery where you say, 'Wow, what was that little guitar lick?' Or the way in which the backing vocals come in…there’s always something new to discover in their work."

For more information visit: http://laurencejuber.com/

Tour dates are as follows:
1/11 NYC - The Iridium Jazz Club
1/12 Londonderry, NH - Tupelo Music Hall
1/13 & 1/14 Natick, MA - TCAN Center for the Arts
1/15/12 Greenwich, CT - Greenwich Library

Photo credit Randi Anglin - taken at Nashville’s historic Ryman Auditorium Nov. 2011

McQueen tops bill at Las Vegas Motorcycle Auction

2011-12-22T11:51:00.004+13:00

MidAmerica Auctions, the world's largest seller of antique motorcycles, will host the 21st Annual Las Vegas Motorcycle Auction and Races Jan. 12-14, 2012, at the South Point Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas, Nev.

500 antique and classic motorcycles will be up for auction, including three motorcycles owned by legendary actor and biking enthusiast, Steve McQueen. Serving as guest of honor is his widow, Barbara McQueen, who will share memories of her famous husband and sign copies, "Steve McQueen: The Last Mile." Joining her will be McQueen biographer Marshall Terrill, who will sign copies of his 2010 book, "Steve McQueen: A Tribute to the King of Cool."

Barbara McQueen's photographs record a behind-the-scenes life of personal pleasures and enthusiasms. They include hitting the road in Steve's pickup trucks, visiting collectors' shows and swap-meets, driving 700 miles to view a rare World War I motorcycle, flying a vintage mail plane, and generally ducking out of Hollywood life. But when work did call, Barbara was also on hand to capture marvelous candid shots on the sets of McQueen's two last films, "Tom Horn" and "The Hunter."

The life and career of Steve McQueen is a classic example of the American dream made real: of a small town boy from a broken home triumphing over adversity to become one of the richest and most sought-after superstars in the world. McQueen lived every day as if it were his last, and by doing so he lived an extraordinary life, both on screen and off.

Barbara McQueen's "Steve McQueen: The Last Mile" tells the story of a simple love affair with life. Barbara, who had carved a very successful career for herself as a fashion model, met Steve McQueen in 1977. Together for less than four years, these rare and private photographs share Steve's rugged, blue-eyed features him in a relaxed and uninhibited setting, doing the things he loved. Barbara's photographs show a tough guy at peace but who retained an inner strength. In one particularly striking shot his hair is wild, his beard thick, and unkempt, and he is looking over his shoulder with a troubled vulnerability. Barbara catches him unaware perhaps in a deeply pensive mood.

MidAmerica Auctions have on display and for sale McQueen's Husqvarna, which he rode for the cover of the August 23, 1971 issue of Sports Illustrated as documented by factory and dealer bills of sale. Also available for auction will be two other Steve McQueen motorcycles – a 1938 Triumph Speed Twin and a 1940 Indian Four Cylinder. A 1970 Bell motorcycle helmet that was owned by McQueen will also be auctioned.

Barbara McQueen will be at the opening event dinner on Jan. 12 and available through Jan. 14 to sign books and greet fans. For information or questions, please contact MidAmerica Auctions at 651-633-9655 or by email at midauction@aol.com

Event Schedule for 21st Annual Las Vegas Motorcycle Auction:
•Thursday, Jan. 12, 5 p.m. Children’s Hospital Benefit Dinner Auction featuring Barbara McQueen as guest of honor; 6 p.m. auction; 6 to 10 p.m. auction of 75 premium vintage and collectible motorcycles.
•Friday, Jan. 13, 9 a.m. to 6 p.m., auction of 200 vintage and collectible motorcycles; 7 p.m. Champion Indoor Short Flat Track Series.
•Saturday, Jan. 14, 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. auction of 225 vintage and collectible motorcycles; 7:30 p.m. Championship Indoor Short Track Flat Track Series.

About MidAmerica Auctions
St. Paul-based MidAmerica Auctions is the world's largest seller of antique motorcycles and has sold more than 15,000 bikes since 1990. Their Las Vegas Motorcycle Auction has become a mecca for antique motorcycle enthusiasts worldwide and sets more world records for motorcycles than all other auctions companies combined. Please visit www.MidAmericaAuctions.com for more information.

"Believe in Me" is debut for Daily Vault Editor

2011-11-30T15:24:00.003+13:00

U.S. publisher Wampus Multimedia introduces Believe in Me, a novel about heroes and believers, regret and redemption, fathers and sons, and the healing power of rock and roll. Penned by pop music critic Jason Warburg, it signals a fresh voice in American popular fiction.

Set at the crossroads of music and political activism, Believe in Me follows young campaign operative Tim Green, the grieving son of a recently deceased music writer, and charismatic, politically active rock singer Jordan Lee, leader of the arena-rock juggernaut Stormseye. From their meeting on a jet to a recording session to a sold-out stadium concert, Green and Lee hopscotch through airports and arenas across the United States, pursuing distinct yet similar dreams.

Inspired by the novels of Nick Hornby, Robert B. Parker, and Elmore Leonard, and the crackling dialog of screenwriter Aaron Sorkin, Warburg filters his fable through an encyclopedic knowledge of popular music. Drawing on his background as editor of the music-review site The Daily Vault, he displays an innate understanding of the elements that unify genres. His voice, like Hornby's in High Fidelity, bears the unmistakable signature of the devotee.

“Believe in Me is a story about heroes,” Warburg says, “and how we create and relate to them. In our postmodern world, irony goes hand in hand with a world-weary cynicism, an attitude that suggests heroes have become obsolete.”

Fittingly, Warburg’s heroes populate his pages like iconic inductees into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame: Counting Crows, Bruce Springsteen, R.E.M., Fountains of Wayne, The Who, Neil Young, The Rolling Stones, Van Morrison, and many others. Jordan Lee and Stormseye, riding the crest of a blockbuster reunion tour, call to mind no act so much as Eddie Vedder and Pearl Jam.

Critics as well as musicians are weighing in on Believe in Me:

“Written with authenticity and emotional honesty, Jason Warburg’s Believe in Me thrusts the reader into the combustible world of political activism and arena rock, where cynicism, power trips, and egos live together in unhealthy codependency. Warburg’s first-person tale digs deep and hits all the right notes, finding the humanity that makes activism compelling and music powerful. I believed every word.” –Roger L. Trott, author of Getting in Tune

“A whirlwind ride through the breathless heights of megastardom.” –Jacob Slichter, Semisonic

“Warburg’s writing misses nothing, and his prose sparkles with moments where the beauty of the language shines through the story. As soon as I finished, I wanted to read it again!” –Jean-Paul Vest, singer-songwriter, Last Charge of the Light Horse

“Jason Warburg is an amazing writer who brings his talent to a new level exploring music and its relationship with the real world, co-mingling and driving the issues of the times.” –Billy Sherwood, singer-songwriter-producer, Circa and ex-Yes

Wampus Multimedia is an independent media imprint founded in 2002. Its credo is simple: to introduce the world to bold content rendered by visionary artists. In addition to its publishing arm, Wampus is home to a growing roster of musical artists in the pop, AAA, Americana, alternative, ambient, blues, and folk genres.

Believe in Me is available for the Amazon Kindle, iPad/iPhone, Nook, and Sony Reader.

Magnets and Ghosts review

2011-11-24T17:20:00.002+13:00

Written by Donna Mair
Magnets and Ghosts - Mass

Mass, is the inaugural release from Magnets and Ghosts; a collaboration between Collective Soul guitarist and founding member Dean Roland, and musician/producer Ryan Potesta. Where the die hard Collective Soul fans would love to have more CS tunes, this 11 track full cd is nothing like Collective Soul! And for me that’s a wonderful thing.

From opening instrumental track “Reveillon” with its grand sweeping cathedral like notes and great booming drum beats to the closing track “Zealot” (which is sad and deep and heavy without being maudlin), this album is chock full of well written lyrics and well performed instrumentation.

“Light My Flame”, the second track in is electricity going down your spine. The lead vocals are slightly distorted over the heavy constant groove of the same guitar chord over and over into the chorus. The bridge kicks it up a notch with female voice (Christina Starr Wherry) punctuated by a guitar solo that enhances rather than grabbing all the attention.

“Hearts of Everyone” has the band singing a boppy tune that is instantly likeable. Listen to the lyrics closer and it’s not just fluff which is what I love about this entire album. Piano notes bring subtle texture to the song and keep it from being too overtly Pop. One of my favorite spots in this song is the drum solo mid stream by Ryan Hoyle and a guitar solo which doesn’t sound like a guitar.

“Mass” is the title track and is reminiscent of a Gregorian chant but again the lyrics are intriguing in this too short song.

“Hold On” gripped me by the throat from the first listen and hasn’t let go yet. The lead vocal is melodic and dreamy, as is the instrumentation, and the backing vocals in a much deeper pitch add a multidimensional feel to this floating quality. Despite this effervescence, the song is a thinker if you scratch below the surface. There is vulnerability here in the lyrics... one feels that they’re very personal.

“The Sea and the Sound is another catchy tune that will hook you on first listen (no pun intended). Hard to tell who is singing main vocals, but a lone voice ends the song with an accapella of final lyrics in a very raw unpolished voice which just ‘makes’ the song in my opinion.

Gang vocals and hand clapping start “I Want You” on a strong and interesting note and the song keeps building from there. Snappy lyrics and a definite drum and bass groove lend to me wanting to get up and move to the music while singing. I love how this song ends with a squalling guitar note.

“Like a Sunday” is another lighter sounding song similar to “Hearts of Everyone” in that it might be a more radio friendly ‘single’ type of song, but the lyrics are introspective and questioning. There is a definite spiritual quality to this song – perhaps why it’s titled “Like a Sunday”?

“Morning Rails” is perhaps the darkest song on the album. The lead voice is deep and monotone to punctuate brooding lyrics. Get to the bridge however, and the guitar work is reminiscent of U2’s The Edge in Achtung Baby – hard hitting, frantic pace, and flawless. Hoyle’s drums are forefront and center and the mix is balanced to perfection.

“Half Awake” brings thoughts of lying on a bench in a train station waiting, waiting, and dozing off into that not quite asleep state (hence aptly named). Disembodied vocals have an ethereal quality to lend to the dream like state.

Building on that half awake state is the closer, “Zealot”. Listen to the lyrics though, and it’s a sad tale of addiction and yearning/searching. It’s one of my favorite tracks off the album.

This album is a unique, delightful discovery for me. The duo (Potesta and Roland) have worn their hearts on their sleeves and because of that risk taking and vulnerability, have come up with a fantastic debut album. They also did not over produce the album – they let little imperfections and realisms stay on the tracks and that adds to the feeling of realism. The duo wrote, produced and performed nearly every piece of the album themselves (except for bass, trumpet, strings and drums). Zealot was co-written by Shaun Grove who also co-engineered the album with Potesta.

Read more: CD Review: Magnets and Ghosts - Mass | RockStar Weekly http://www.rockstarweekly.com/cd-review-magnets-and-ghosts-mass.html#ixzz1eaq8X6nW

Steve McQueen: Re-evaluating a Rebel

2011-11-16T17:01:00.003+13:00

Jeremy Roberts’ interview with biographer Marshall Terrill

Steve McQueen has been a household name since he first appeared on tv screens in 1958 as the star of the western series Wanted: Dead Or Alive. Iconic film roles soon followed, including The Magnificent Seven (1960), The Great Escape (1963), The Cincinnati Kid (1965), The Sand Pebbles (1966), Bullitt (1968), The Getaway (1972), & Papillon (1973).

As a result, McQueen quickly became one of the top box office stars of the 1960s & 1970s, yet he never received enough recognition from his peers: other than an Oscar nomination for The Sand Pebbles in 1967 & a Golden Globe nomination for 1973's intense Papillon, these were the industry's only concessions.

The actor unfortunately succumbed to mesothelioma, a form of cancer stemming from exposure to asbestos, in November 1980 at the early age of 50. During the past 30 years, his legend has continued to accelerate, and McQueen is rightly seen as the epitome of cool. So, why is this? Well, in real life Steve McQueen was a rebel, a man who lived life on the edge on his terms, a motorcycle & car racer, an aviation aficionado, an antique collector, a guy who disdained Hollywood parties, a loving father, pretty much a small-town kid at heart who donated his time and resources to underprivileged kids. However, most fans only knew McQueen as the actor. When he appeared on the screen, movie-goers believed McQueen was that particular role, whether a seasoned cowboy in 1980's Tom Horn or a cocky, arrogant pilot in 1962's The War Lover. Therein lies the key to a successful film career that transcends generations.

Perhaps the ultimate McQueen expert and fan is his biographer, Marshall Terrill. The writer wrote his first book in 1993, the successful Steve McQueen: Portrait Of An American Rebel. Since then, the influential book has undergone several reprintings as well as a revised edition.

Terrill is no stranger to biographies, having written 14 so far on wide-ranging subjects including Elvis Presley, basketball great Pete Maravich, and boxing champion Ken Norton. Terrill recently collaborated with the late actor's widow, Barbara McQueen, for the 2006 massive coffee-table book entitled Steve McQueen: The Last Mile, profiling the final three years of the actor's life.

This year fans can purchase two new McQueen projects. First, the 384-page, coffee-table Steve McQueen: A Tribute To The King Of Cool came out in March, but only in a special limited edition that is signed (by Terrill & Barbara McQueen), numbered, & includes a cd of a 1978 McQueen college lecture.

This special limited edition is available now at publisher Dalton Watson's website. A hardback, traditional version will hit Amazon.com & bookstores across America later this year. It is a passage book featuring anecdotes from McQueen's friends and peers.

Later this year, a 600-page mammoth bio entitled Steve McQueen: The Life & Legacy of a Hollywood Icon, will be available at all bookstores in October via Triumph Books.

Terrill recently took time to grant an extended interview, focusing on his fascination with the legend that is Steve McQueen.

THE INTERVIEW

Why is Steve McQueen still a major pop culture force?

Besides the fact that his look and his talent are timeless, the reason why any artist lives on after they die is because of their cult of personality. When someone sees McQueen’s work, they become fascinated with the man and want to know more about him. When they learn about his life, his painful childhood, his inner struggle to reach the top, his approach to acting and how he put his heart and soul into every project, he becomes much more than just a movie star. His life takes on much more meaning – his movies, the motorcycles, the racing, the aviation, the women, his insecurities, and his hell-bent-for-leather take on life. He was an American original and marched to the beat of his own drummer. How many people can we say that about today? The era of the 1960s and 1970s minted some of the greatest artists of the millennium, and McQueen is definitely in this group.

For the non McQueen fan, what film(s) would you direct them to see?

The Magnificent Seven; The Great Escape; Love with the Proper Stranger; The Cincinnati Kid; The Sand Pebbles; The Thomas Crown Affair; Bullitt; The Reivers; Junior Bonner; The Getaway; Papillon & Tom Horn. This roster of films gives a good sampling of McQueen’s range as an actor & demonstrates why he was so popular with audiences.

What is the most difficult part about undergoing a McQueen project?
(For me personally it’s when to stop. Because I find McQueen so fascinating, I must know everything about him. No stone goes unturned. I originally envisioned Steve McQueen: A Tribute to the King of Cool as maybe 100 passages…it’s about 215 passages, and I could have kept going. )

The editor of Steve McQueen: The Life & Legend of a Hollywood Icon said he wanted a 300-page book – I turned in a manuscript double that length – and thankfully, he didn’t cut a thing. McQueen’s story is epic and to give an abbreviated version of his life would be to cheat readers. That’s something I can proudly say I’ve never been accused of.

Let’s go back to 1993: Steve McQueen: Portrait Of An American Rebel was your first book. What was that experience like?

It was a wonderfully new & exciting process. Today I have written approximately 15 books, &Portrait was my first. It was a grand adventure as I embarked on a new chapter in my life, & going to Hollywood to meet all my favorite actors & people associated with McQueen’s movies was thrilling beyond belief. At that time, McQueen’s legend was just starting to surface and everyone was willing to talk to me. I happened to be in the right place at the right time.

Has Portrait been your most successful book?

“Portrait” is by far the most successful book I’ve written, although I’ve subsequently written two other best-selling books. It was reviewed worldwide, has gone through five printings and was revised in 2005. I’m hoping that Steve McQueen: The Life and Legend of a Hollywood Icon will be even more successful because it is a much better book than Portrait.

Portrait of an American Rebel was your first bestseller, but what were some of the others?

I co-wrote a biography called Maravich with Wayne Federman on the life of basketball legend “Pistol” Pete Maravich. It was released in 2006. That book took seven years to write; two years were strictly devoted to transcribing 300 interviews.

I also did a book with Elvis Presley’s friend & bodyguard, Sonny West, called Elvis: Still Taking Care of Business. It took me four years to write, and it was released in 2007. At that time, I was also working on Steve McQueen: The Last Mile with Barbara McQueen, so I was holding down a full-time job and working on three different book projects at the same time.

What do you think of “Portrait” today?

It’s my first “baby” and I’ll always be proud of the book, but it lacked in certain areas. For example, it’s skimpy on the details regarding his birth in Beech Grove, Indiana; his upbringing in Slater; his 14-month stint at the Boys Republic; his three years in the Marines and his early acting career in New York City. That is mainly due to the fact that not much was known at the time of McQueen’s background, so we were left with whatever McQueen cared to offer up. Since then, open records laws have enabled me access to find more information about McQueen’s early life, and the new bio is so much more detailed regarding these years. It’s also more analytical and has a more mature perspective about his life. In the years after Portrait, I became a reporter and applied a lot of my skills and logic to the McQueen story. I know Portrait set the bar but Hollywood Icon surpasses my previous effort. I can say that with confidence because I really busted my ass.

Were there some folks you wanted to interview but for one reason or another were unavailable?

The two people I really wanted to interview for both books, and are still alive, are attorney Kenneth Ziffren and business manager Bill Maher. They not only turned me down but never replied. These are two guys who worked diligently behind the scenes and are the brains behind McQueen’s power and fortune. They not only protected him legally, but established incentives in his movie contracts that no one else had at the time. I learned in this new offering that McQueen made far more money than the public suspected, especially on The Getaway, Papillon, The Towering Inferno, & The Hunter.

Ziffren and Maher were also the two men who drew up McQueen’s Last Will & Testament, which shows you how much he respected them. McQueen said at the end of his life, “Hire people smart enough to do the work but let you take the credit.” Well, that’s exactly what these two men did, which is why they lasted for so long.

Who were you especially excited to meet?

James Coburn, who was one of my favorite movie stars, and he was just as cool as you might have suspected, and a very nice man. But the one who I have the most affection for is Lord Richard Attenborough. At the time of Portrait I was a recent college graduate who had never had any contact with Hollywood. We met in Washington D.C. where he was being feted at a film perspective. After our interview, he invited me to the event and introduced me to the audience by name. Now, he didn’t have to do that, but that thoughtful gesture will stay with me for the rest of my life, and I will forever sing his praises.

Can you recall the first movie where you saw McQueen & became hooked?

At that time, Bullitt played continuously on Channel 20 in Washington D.C., where I spent a good portion of my youth. But The Getaway was the first motion picture I saw of McQueen’s. I’m a military brat and so when we moved, and my parents were out looking for a home, they’d drop us kids off at the movies and we’d spend the entire day there.

I must have seen Papillon as a kid at least 10 times. When The Towering Inferno debuted in December 1974, a buddy and me went to a midnight showing the day it came out. But here’s the funny part - the 9 p.m. show was sold out, and it was apparent the midnight showing was also going to be a sell-out.

I told my friend there was no way I was going to miss this movie, and so I simply walked up to the front of the line and cut in front of some lady! She must have sensed my determination and didn’t say a word. But boy did she stare daggers at my back the whole three hours I waited for the next showing…that kind of tells you how much I loved McQueen.

Pick & please discuss some of your favorite McQueen roles.

Papillon & The Getaway are my two favorite McQueen movies. For Papillon, it shows McQueen’s depth as an actor. He should have won the Academy Award for his performance. And for some reason, The Getaway, because I’ve always felt that it captures McQueen’s true intensity and personality. In his performances he was always a bit restrained, but in The Getaway, he lets loose, and you get a sense of who McQueen was in his private life.

On the other hand, was there a McQueen film that you don't care for?

Well, there was the whole slew of B-movies in the fifties – The Blob, Never Love a Stranger, The Great St. Louis Bank Robbery. but that’s simply because he had not defined who he was as an actor. In Never So Few, you catch the first real glimpse of the McQueen persona, which he had defined and perfected in the next decade.

When he became popular, Soldier In the Rain, Baby, The Rain Must Fall, & Nevada Smith were my least favorites. And because I’m not a racing fan, I find Le Mans boring and unwatchable. But Le Mans is a testament to McQueen’s star power at the time – how many other major movie stars can get away with carrying an entire picture with a dozen lines of dialogue? I promise you that would never happen in today’s industry.

Is there a McQueen film that you have re-examined & perhaps changed your mind about his performance?

Yes, and it happened most recently. A buddy of mine burned a copy of The Honeymoon Machine for me, and I watched it on a plane on my personal DVD player. I was astonished to discover that McQueen was actually quite funny in the film. I had only really given him credit for being funny in The Reivers, but he’s excellent in The Honeymoon Machine.

Of all the movies Steve passed on doing, which one(s) do you wish he should have picked?

Butch Cassidy & The Sundance Kid as well as Apocalypse Now. He would have brought great intensity to Butch Cassidy & Apocalypse Now would have stretched him as an actor.

Why did McQueen take such a long sabbatical from films after 1974's The Towering Inferno? Did he think this was a mistake upon reflection?

In the new book I discuss this in great detail. I think it was several things – he was burned out from the film industry, he had surpassed his rival Paul Newman, and he finally had the money to take a long break. Also, once you reach the pinnacle of your career, like he did with The Towering Inferno, how do you even attempt to come back because you know the next thing you do will not measure up? Those were, I believe, all the things going through McQueen’s head at the time.

With that said, I don’t think McQueen ever regretted this decision because it’s what his body and head required (in fact, Steve became a devoted & committed Christian in 1979). When your instincts tell you to take a break, you should listen. The break realistically was only for two years, not five. I’m sure no one counted on An Enemy of the People getting shelved, which added to the length of time the public hadn’t seen him.

Let's talk about An Enemy Of The People in more detail. This film certainly had a convoluted production schedule.

An Enemy of the People was a 33-day shoot, which commenced September 28, 1976. After a long and arduous testing period, the movie saw a limited release in about a dozen cities in March 1978. Warner Brothers didn’t know how to market the film because it was McQueen in an Ibsen play.

He chose to go totally against type and rather than try and misrepresent the film, the studio canned it. My personal belief is that he chose the project to sabotage his First Artists (McQueen's production company; Paul Newman, Barbra Streisand, & Sidney Poitier were also partners) deal, but then he fell in love with the picture after its release. McQueen found himself in a real Catch-22. The movie finally came out on DVD in 2009 via Warner Brothers’ website, so if you’re a fan and are curious, you should check it out to see what all the fuss was about.

Off-screen, what was McQueen like as a person?

Let me be clear, I never met Steve McQueen when he was alive, so I can only give you my opinion based on the hundreds of interviews I’ve conducted with friends, family, business associates and those who have had encounters with McQueen, which is really the basis of Steve McQueen: A Tribute to the King of Cool.

McQueen is perhaps the most multi-faceted and complex person I’ve ever researched. He was the epitome of yin and yang – sweet and scary; caring and selfish; cocky and insecure; funny and humorless; generous and thrifty. He was every emotion you could think of, which makes him absolutely fascinating to a biographer.

30 years after McQueen's death [November 7th, 1980], if he were still alive today, what would you see him doing?

I see him as a semi-retired actor, living the good life on a ranch somewhere. McQueen always lived his life out of the spotlight, and I think he would have come out of retirement for a good role (and a hefty paycheck). Look at all of the same people of his era – Newman, Eastwood, Beatty, Redford – they all continued to work, albeit sporadically, and were able to find vehicles to support their ages. McQueen would have easily slid into a leading role or extended cameo. Eastwood is the exception in this group. He doesn't seem to ever want to stop working, and God bless him. He's amazing.

Did McQueen know how many people enjoyed him & his work?

I believe he did, but his vision of his popularity was skewed. He rated his success in terms of box-office receipts. Plus, he lived most of his adult life in Southern California where everyone “loved him.” I think fame scared him to a certain degree, which is why he didn’t hide but mostly ducked the whole Hollywood experience. I think he retained his edge by remaining the Hollywood outsider, which is why he chose to live privately. He said more than once, “To have your obscurity and keep your identity is the ultimate.” For this I completely respect him because it shows he wanted a balance in his life. Living in Hollywood can make any celebrity unbalanced, and McQueen gets major kudos for being his own man.

If you had met McQueen, what would you have said to him?

This is a very interesting question because McQueen didn’t talk much about the art of filmmaking or his movie roles; instead, he preferred talking about his motorcycles and machinery. I know nothing about engines or machinery & have no interest in them whatsoever as long as it gets me from point A to point B. I remember producer David Wolper telling me that he sat in between McQueen and actor Lee Marvin at a benefit dinner, and it was like listening to a pair of mechanics talk shop. He said it was the most boring night of his life! (His passage is in Steve McQueen: A Tribute to the King of Cool).

I thought that was a fascinating insight into McQueen. So to answer your question, I’m not sure what we could have talked about. I’m of the belief that a biographer probably shouldn’t meet his subject. I’d much rather rely on family, friends, and associates to paint his/her portrait. A biographer should be the proverbial fly on the wall and listen, observe, research, and take in all the information before sitting down to write, and make sure to give the full picture of the person.

What do you enjoy doing when not writing a biography or newspaper article?

Lately, I’ve been into mountain biking. Arizona has some of the most gorgeous terrain in the country, and I try to ride at least an hour a day after work. It’s very peaceful and relaxing, and I usually ride off the beaten path with my iPod blaring. I listen to my favorite tunes while I look at mountains, cactus, parks, lakes and critters of the desert.

My wife and I watch a lot of movies & current tv series such as Entourage, Weeds, True Blood, Mad Men, & Breaking Bad. We're huge fans of reality tv including The Real Housewives of New York City, Celebrity Rehab, Sober House, The Hills, and Seinfeld reruns. I also read a lot of books – biographies, autobiographies, memoirs, history, always non-fiction.

One last question: What other projects are you thinking about, or is McQueen still taking up all your time?

After I finished Steve McQueen: The Life and Legend of a Hollywood Icon, which is more than 600 pages, I’m thinking of retiring altogether or taking a very long break. Writing is very stressful because of the amount of concentration and because you’re dealing with facts.

In the beginning it was fun and a new adventure. As I’ve grown older, I’ve become more of a perfectionist, and I place very high standards on my work, and that can be very emotionally and physically draining. You might think the more you do something the easier it gets, but it doesn’t. It gets harder because there’s more expectation of me, and I also expect more of myself. I’ve heard more than one author say what I’m telling you now, and I don’t feel this is an isolated case. So for now, I want to sit back and enjoy my life as opposed to being chained to a computer for 8 to 10 hours a day, which is what I did for this last McQueen book. For the first time in 20 years, I’m not going to actively pursue a book project, and I’m absolutely at peace with the idea.

For even more McQueen magic, visit www.examiner.com/steve-mcqueen-in-national/jeremy-roberts Jeremy Roberts describes himself as: “a freelance writer who loves reading biographies, watching classic movies, going to concerts, listening to music. Investigating pop culture, including anything from the '30s to the present, is a lifelong passion of mine. Everyone has a story to tell, and if I've been a good listener and asked questions, then I've done my job.”

Laurence Juber Q & A

2011-11-14T16:57:00.002+13:00

Grammy-Award winning guitar artist Laurence Juber will make a pair of intimate Southern California appearances this month. Juber will play at 8 p.m. Friday, Nov. 18, 2011, at McCabes Guitar Store, 3101 Pico Blvd., Santa Monica and 8 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 19, 2011, at The Fret House, 309 N. Citrus, Covina.

Often considered most famous for playing lead guitar in Wings from 1978 to 1981, Juber, known as ‘LJ’, has since had a distinguished career as a solo finger-style guitarist.

LJ graciously granted me an interview over the phone from Los Angeles to promote his two SoCal appearances.

Q: Do you enjoy playing in your own backyard?

LJ: I spend much of my time performing outside of Southern California, so it’s a pleasure to do what I consider ‘hometown shows’ in very intimate and close-up acoustic venues.

Q: In between shows, you also do guitar workshops. What are those like?

LJ: They’re definitely more on the technical end of the spectrum of what I do. It’s usually a group lesson between eight and 20 people, showing them tips, tricks and ways to improve their playing. I also explain my process for arranging and playing the solo acoustic guitar, how to get sound, resonance and character from the instrument. I pass on my knowledge and experience on how to create a solid musical experience.

Q: You've played at McCabes and The Fret House before. What are those two venues like?

McCabes is a historic place, which opened in 1958. It's also one of the best acoustic venues in the Los Angeles area and it's a delight to play there. It's a guitar shop and venue. At night they clear out the racks of guitars and put out chairs and it holds about 150 people. It's just a great gig. The list of musicians that have played there and hung out in the store is amazing - Ry Cooder, Bonnie Rait, Jackson Browne, Hoyt Axton, Jeff Buckley, Gene Clark, John Densmore, Steve Earle, Vince Gill, Roger McGuinn, Mick Taylor - all the greats. I'm working on some new arrangements and whenever I play there I always throw in something new into the repertoire.

The Fret House is an annual show I do and this will be my 20th performance there. I've playing there since 1991 right after my first album, Solo Flight, came out. It's a guitar store but they have a separate performance space and it's a very intimate acoustic venue. I've always enjoyed playing there.

Q: At your concerts, you play all styles of music, including a nice sampling of the Beatles. Why are their songs so magical?

LJ: (laughs) Every time I hear a Beatles record I gain a new appreciation. Above and beyond the analytical part of it and creating the arrangements, when I start deconstructing Beatles songs, I find unexpected things. I can never listen to a Beatles record twice and hear exactly the same thing. There’s always something that I’ve missed, or a new discovery where you say, “Wow, what was that little guitar lick?” Or the way in which the backing vocals come in…there’s always something new to discover in their work.

For more information visit www.laurencejuber.com

What: Laurence Juber
Where: McCabes Guitar Shop, 3101 Pico Blvd., Santa Monica
When: Friday, Nov 18, 8 p.m.
Cost: $20
Information: 310-828-4497 or http://www.mccabes.com

What: Laurence Juber
Where: The Fret House 309 N. Citrus, Covina
When: Saturday, Nov. 19, 8 p.m.
Cost: $20
Information: 626-339-7020 or http://www.frethouse.com

Ronny Cox headlines at the Cave Creek Coffee Co.

2011-11-08T08:44:00.004+13:00

Ronny Cox, musician and noted actor, will be joined by South Carolina-born singer-songwriter-guitarist Jack Williams on stage at Cave Creek Coffee Company in Cave Creek on Saturday, Nov. 19. Ronny and Jack have collaborated musically many times in recent years, touring together on the US folk circuit and recording/producing one of Ronny’s CDs. Each will present his own music and stories in two separate sets, with Jack joining Ronny to accompany him on guitar.

While Ronny started out as a musician and has emphasized that side of his career for the past few years, he is still one of the most respected and sought-after character actors in Hollywood. Since his debut as “Drew” in John Boorman's film "Deliverance" - including playing guitar in the famous "dueling banjos" scene - Ronny has appeared in over 50 films including "Beverly Hills Cop (I & II)", "Bound for Glory", "Robo Cop", "Total Recall,” and has played the president of the U.S. at least four times (including “1600 Pennsylvania Avenue”). In his recent recording, “How I Love Them Old Songs: Ronny Cox Sings Mickey Newbury”, produced by Jack Williams, Ronny pays tribute to the music of the legendary Texas songwriter. His additional recordings, “Songs with Repercussions,” "Ronny Cox Live," "Cowboy Savant" and "Acoustic Electricity" showcase Ronny’s home grown style of folk music and the lively story-telling that goes with it. Steadily increasing his following on the U.S. folk music circuit, he has headlined at such venues as the prestigious Old Town School of Folk in Chicago, the New Bedford SummerFest, and the Kerrville Folk Festival, a favorite of Ronny’s held annually in Kerrville, Texas.

Jack Williams is well known in the contemporary U.S. folk community as a Southern singer/ songwriter/storyteller, energetic performer, and unique guitarist. He continues to tour the U.S., as he has for the past 50 years, out of his love of music and performing. Jack books an annual circuit of approximately 100 U.S. festivals, house concerts and major folk venues each year, and has been a featured performer on the stages of the Philadelphia, SummerFest, Kerrville, Boston, and Newport Folk Festivals. In addition to his US audience, Jack has also become a favorite in England, Canada and Europe.

Jack Williams’ music – original Southern-American songwriting and performance at its best - draws deeply from the eclectic well of our musical heritage. Loaded with delightful influences from his career in jazz, classical, rock, blues, country and folk, Jack’s music is an easy, natural fusion of guitar, voice, songs, and stories. His original songs celebrating the characters, attitudes and life in the American South can be found on his DVD and nine CDs released on the Wind River / Folk Era label. His album, “Don’t Let Go”, is a tribute to some of the writers and songs that had the greatest impact on his musical development.

WHAT: RONNY COX and JACK WILLIAMS in Concert

WHEN: Saturday, Nov, 19, 2011, 7:30-10:30pm

WHERE: Cave Creek Coffee Co., 6033 E. Cave Creek Road, Cave Creek

COST: $22 in advance online or $25 at the door

CONTACT: For more information call 480.488.0603 or visit www.cavecreekcoffee.com

Q & A with McQueen author Andrew Antoniades

2011-11-07T04:50:00.004+13:00

Interviewer: You have just released a new book called “Steve McQueen: The Actor and his Films”. Why is McQueen so popular even today?

Andrew: In essence it is because what Steve McQueen stood for in his lifetime is still as relevant, if not more so, today. He was a no-nonsense person who was essentially an underdog and that story is always appealing. He was a rebel but he could also act, so his films remain relevant and well-loved today. For example, Bullitt is still influencing modern cinema through its cinematography and its car chase. Aside form the films there is McQueen fashion sense and his love of fast cars and motorbikes. So for every person there is nearly always something they can relate to and admire. In an age where cinema really has no tough guys like McQueen, people have to look back and appreciated him for the maverick he was, since there is no one that comes close these days. He died just over 30 years ago but remains as relevant and as big as ever.
Interviewer: How did you come to write a book on Steve McQueen?

Andrew: I had just edited Marshall Terrill’s latest biography Steve McQueen: The Life and Legend of a Hollywood Icon. That was a great experience for me as I had read Marshall’s first biography on McQueen from 1993 when I was just in my late teens. Marshall always felt, having written the definitive biography on McQueen that the story of his films needed to be told. Marshall graciously suggested that I be the one to tell this story and put in contact with his publisher. From there I teamed up with Mike Siegel who has one of Europe’s leading film memorabilia archives with so many great images and film posters. We teamed up with the idea being that I did most of the writing and Mike providing most of the images. In a sense, the book now has the best of both worlds and benefits from two very big McQueen fans to ensure that the text and imagery are of the highest caliber. The partnership worked well and, with Marshall and the publisher’s support, the end product exceeded all our hopes.

Interviewer: Why did you focus on Steve McQueen’s films?

Andrew: McQueen’s life was a miracle in its own way. He was born into poverty and managed to somehow work his way from a teenage delinquent to a Hollywood megastar, defying the odds. His life story is completely interwoven with his films. The reason being two-fold. Firstly, being an actor was his way to a better life, a way of achieving success. Without films he could have easily drifted from job to job, just as he had as a young man. Secondly, McQueen used acting as a means of developing himself. He used all his hardships and life experiences to create some of cinema’s richest and most subtle characterizations.

However, McQueen also managed to do the reverse too, in the latter half of his career, his movies became his confessional of sorts. He would invest in scenes to achieve catharsis and to understand his own personal anxieties and fears. For example, in Junior Bonner there is the scene between McQueen’s character and his father, Ace, in which the two have a very strained relationship, but a deep respect. McQueen himself grew up never knowing his father and this scene allowed McQueen to examine his own feelings of abandonment and being denied a conventional father-son relationship. It is an incredibly poignant scene, but really highlights just how important McQueen’s films are.

Interviewer: Which part of the book are you most proud of?

Andrew: It is hard to pick one. The reason being is the book covers so much in text and in words. This was a conscious decision as we wanted to give fans everything we like ourselves. With the text of the book, I guess I’m most proud of the dissection of McQueen’s acting. I wanted to offer a unique and in-depth insight into McQueen’s technique, his subtleties and his motivations, to really get under his skin. This is something that has never been done in such detail.

Interviewer: Visually, what are the books strengths?

Andrew: We were adamant that the book should look impressive and possess great quality. As a collector myself, I always want things that look good and impress. The book is literally huge; at nearly 500 pages I don’t think there is another book on McQueen of this size. It is presented in hardback too with a wonderful gold embossed logo on the cover, underneath the dust jacket. When I got my own copy of the book I had no idea about this and was blown away. My publisher did a great job and I believe that little touches add to the overall presentation.

With the images, even the biggest McQueen fan will be blown away. With over a 1,000 images there are so many never-before-seen photos. So many books on McQueen have been released that simply repeat the same images. Steve McQueen: The Actor and his Films has something for casual and die-hard fans alike. Whether it’s an unseen image of McQueen taking a nap between takes on The Getaway or a rare Italian poster for Bullitt, there is something new and fresh.

Interviewer: What makes your book so different?

Andrew: The word I would use, and I use it with caution, is “definitive”. I do not say this lightly. I own practically every book published on McQueen over the years. I must say that, as an account of McQueen’s films, it really is definitive. Other books that try to cover his films either are outdated, not richly presented or omit key details. With this book every aspect is dealt with in great detail and new angles discovered. I clearly have a bias, but I believe that there is nothing on the market that comes close.

Interviewer: Thank you Andrew, this book sounds great, I wish you every success. Any closing comments?

Andrew: Yes, thank you too, this has been great. To close I’d just like to say that I am very grateful to have had this opportunity to put together a book on a subject that I am so passionate about. It has really been a labor of love. At the end of the day, I am a McQueen fan so I wanted to put something together that would really do him justice. I hope that I have achieved that.

Q: Tell us something you've never revealed to anyone else?

Andrew: I love Tiny Tim's "Tiptoe Through The Tulips."

Steve McQueen: The Actor and his Films, by Andrew Antoniades and Mike Siegel

Is available from Dalton Watson Fine books www.daltonwatson.com

http://www.daltonwatson.com/78-celebrities/130-steve-mcqueen-the-actor-and-his-films

ISBN 978-1-85443-253-7

Hard cover with dust jacket

Publication Date November 2011

Page Size: 300mm x 230mm. 492 pages.

Illustrations: 1,020 illustrations: 790 photos incl. 44 full page photos. 230 artwork reproductions incl. 48 full page poster reproductions & 10 full page lobby card reproductions

Price: US$69/£39

Steve McQueen: The Actor and His Films

2011-11-06T07:56:00.005+13:00

There are few books available that concentrate solely on the films of Steve McQueen. Steve McQueen: The Actor and his Films, is the definitive account of every film that the iconic actor made. This lavishly illustrated book devotes nearly 500 pages to Steve McQueen’s career and tracks his journey from juvenile delinquent, to Marine, to an aspiring actor breaking into Hollywood, until he became a global superstar and the highest-paid actor of his era. Included are numerous behind the scenes tales of events that occurred leading up to and during filming, and fascinating insights into McQueen’s acting techniques and motivations.

Each film is allocated one chapter. The chapters begin with a précis of the particular movie. Then events surrounding its making are described, uncovering new facts and insights. This is followed by an analysis of its success, and finally a significant scene is discussed in detail. Steve McQueen: The Actor and his Films is extensively illustrated with over 1000 color and black & white images, including posters from around the world, lobby cards, memorabilia, many never-before seen candid stills and rare vintage advertising materials.

Andrew Antoniades is a Chartered Accountant and lifelong Steve McQueen fan and expert. He studied English Literature at Southampton University and edited Marshall Terrill's 2010 biography Steve McQueen: Life and Legend of a Hollywood Icon. He has collected Steve McQueen memorabilia for over a decade and his collection includes original vintage film posters and several items personally owned by McQueen. Andrew lives in London.

Mike Siegel is a filmmaker, film historian and the director of more than a dozen documentaries on classic films and directors of the 1960s and 1970s. He is best known for his work regarding American director Sam Peckinpah including his acclaimed film Passion & Poetry – The Ballad of Sam Peckinpah and the accompanying book Passion & Poetry – Sam Peckinpah in Pictures. Over the years he has contributed to countless books and magazines, including the American film magazine Cinema Retro, and produced a number of special-edition DVDs. He started his historical film collection at the age of ten and now owns one of the leading archives in Germany. He resides near Stuttgart, Germany.

For more information, visit www.daltonwatson.com or email info@daltonwatson.com

LJ to perform pair of SoCal concerts

2011-11-05T13:10:00.004+13:00

Two-time Grammy-Award winning guitar artist Laurence Juber will make a pair of intimate Southern California appearances later this month.

Juber will play at 8 p.m. Friday, Nov. 18, 2011, at McCabes Guitar Store, 3101 Pico Blvd., Santa Monica and 8 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 19, 2011, at The Fret House, 309 N. Citrus, Covina.

“I spend much of my time performing outside of Southern California, so it’s a pleasure to do what I consider ‘hometown shows’ in very intimate and close-up acoustic venues,” Juber said.

Known for playing lead guitar in Wings from 1978 to 1981, Juber, known as ‘LJ’, has since had a distinguished career as a solo finger-style guitarist.A world-class guitar virtuoso solo artist, composer and arranger, LJ fuses folk, jazz, and pop styles and creates a dynamic multi-faceted performance that belies the use of only one instrument.

Laurence has released 19 acclaimed solo albums since Wings folded. Wooden Horses showcases his compositions for solo guitar, while his celebrated arranging skills are featured on two volumes of LJ Plays The Beatles, the first of which was voted among the all-time top ten acoustic guitar records.

As a studio musician, he can be heard on recent albums from artists as diverse as Barry Manilow, Al Steward and Dan Hicks & the Hot Licks. He is also featured on the soundtracks to hundreds of TV shows and movies including the Academy Award-winning Good Will Hunting and Dirty Dancing, the James Bond thriller The Spy Who Love Me and the upcoming Muppets movie.

For more information visit:
http://laurencejuber.com/

What: Laurence Juber
Where: McCabes Guitar Shop, 3101 Pico Blvd., Santa Monica
When: Friday, Nov 18, 8 p.m.
Cost: $20
Information: 310-828-4497 or http://www.mccabes.com

What: Laurence Juber
Where: The Fret House 309 N. Citrus, Covina
When: Saturday, Nov. 19, 8 p.m.
Cost: $20
Information: 626-339-7020 or http://www.frethouse.com

Stage 32.com lights up entertainment industry

2011-11-04T14:34:00.003+13:00

There is now a highly developed online social platform that gives people involved in the entertainment industry their very own, specialized place to network and collaborate. Stage32.com, founded by Curt Blakeney and Richard “RB” Botto, was designed for aspiring and established actors, directors, screenwriters, producers, crew, agents, technical and production support, and other industry members. It is an all-encompassing social network of like-minded individuals who have joined forces to promote creative growth in the film, television and theater industries.

The site fosters and facilitates collaboration between members using tried-and-true social networking concepts in “real time.” It features individual chat rooms, entertainment industry news, member updates in a status feed, private messaging, instant messaging, project listing, jobs listings, and forums. It gives members the ability to upload photos, videos, and projects, and also “follow” other projects to get updates and potentially turn ideas into production reality.

“On the flight back from the American Film Market (AFM) in Los Angeles, RB and I fleshed out the idea for Stage 32,” said Curt Blakeney, co-founder of Stage32.com. “In the bar of the Loews Santa Monica Hotel, we witnessed so many projects being discussed and so many filmmakers with completed films begging to be heard. We thought it would be great to create a virtual meeting place so that people could discuss film and theater projects and connect year round, anywhere in the world. Stage 32 is a social network uniquely populated with the most creative people on Earth.”

Unofficially launched on July 23, 2011, the site went through a “proof of concept” phase with early adapters. Within weeks, membership quickly grew to 20,000 members globally in more than 120 countries. With Stage 32, industry personnel have an online place to call home.

“Excelling at your craft is only half the battle,” Botto said. “Networking is just as important, and we’re helping to accelerate that process.”

Whether someone is looking to fund a film, cast talent in a project, join classes, find a director, get advice or discuss key industry issues in the chat area, Stage 32 is designed to connect everyone within the industry. Best of all, Stage 32 is free to join and can easily be linked to an individual’s Facebook account, giving the user easy access to their existing contacts and colleagues.

“Stage 32 has allowed me to present my past and current film projects to a diverse and qualified forum of entertainment professionals,” said Writer/Director/Producer Angelo Bell. “As a result of posting my current film project on Stage 32, I've been contacted by numerous people (talent and crew) who appreciate the concept and are interested in helping me bring it to fruition.”

“With Stage 32, I have an all-access pass to television and movie professionals as well as media members,” said publicist Lynette Carrington of Carrington Entertainment. “I can find great places to book my clients for print, radio and podcast interviews and I can also see what films are currently casting. Stage 32 has been an extraordinarily valuable tool in helping me do my job. Plus, it is always great to meet others that understand this challenging industry.”

Stage 32 can be found online at www.Stage32.com. It can also be accessed via Facebook at www.facebook.com/stage32 or twitter at @stage32online. Relevant for both newcomers and seasoned entertainment professionals, Stage 32 is the no-nonsense, professional place to get serious about taking a dream and making it a reality.

Turpin headlines Nov. 5 benefit to honor fallen niece

2011-10-29T09:04:00.004+13:00

When Atlanta rocker Will Turpin takes to the stage next week to headline a benefit concert, he'll be playing for someone who can't be there - his recently deceased niece, Kensley Grace Kirby.

The veteran bassist for Collective Soul will top the bill of The KG Music Fest on Saturday, Nov. 5, 2011, at Southside Steve's, 715 Industrial Blvd., McDonough. The 2 p.m. show also features Collective Soul guitarist Joel Kosche, Abel, Rawls & Hayes, Reluctant Saints and Eleven Standing Still.

Turpin will be using his celebrity status to help to raise funds for the Kensley Grace Aquatic Center. The proposed swimming facility is named after his 5-year-old niece, who died June 8 after she was taken to a McDonough family medical clinic to get treated for a broken arm. She died after a lethal dose of local anesthesia was given to her at the clinic, an Atlanta coroner confirmed.

"Kensley’s death was a big blow to our entire family and it has changed all of our lives. She loved swimming and we're going to use the money we raise to build a nice aquatic facility in Henry County," Turpin said. "The sadness that Kensley's tragic death has exposed will never be repaired but we are trying to put energy towards something that is positive to balance out all of the negative."

Turpin said Kensley enjoyed both soccer and swimming and had expressed an interest in joining the S.M.A.R.T. (Smart Motivated Athletic Respectful and Teammate) swim team. Her eight-year-old sister, Avonlea, is also a member of the team.

A Facebook group called Kensley Grace Aquatic Center has been created and a fund-raising team has been established. Tax-deductible donations may be made to the Kensley Grace Memorial Fund at Ameris Bank, located at 135 North Park Place, Suite 250, Stockbridge.

Turpin said competitive swimmers in Henry County currently don't have a proper sized pool to train and must travel to neighboring counties to compete. He hopes to rectify that situation by raising money through Saturday's benefit.

"A local land owner has approached us about donating land for the aquatic center," Turpin said. "We've turned a major corner and the rest is up to us to come through for these kids."

Fans will be treated to a rare solo appearance by Turpin, who will be playing songs from his new EP, The Lighthouse (Gooey Music, 2011) and a few from Collective Soul. He added that the other musicians on the bill would be joining him for an all-star jam at the end of the evening.

For more information on the Kensley Grace Aquatic Center, visit www.kensleygrace.com

For more information about the KG Music Fest, call Southside Steve's at 678-814-4126 or visit www.southsidesteves.com

What: KG Music Fest benefit featuring Will Turpin
Where: Southside Steve's, 715 Industrial Blvd., McDonough
When: Saturday, Nov. 5, 2 to 8 p.m.
Cost: $10
Information: 678-814-4126 or www.southsidesteves.com

Turpin's Halloween Show Will Be Sweet

2011-10-27T03:30:00.004+13:00

Multi-platinum artist Will Turpin will headline the annual Halloween Rock Review at the French Market, 3840 Highway 42, Locust Grove. The show starts 9 p.m. on Saturday, Oct. 29.

Turpin will appear with his three-piece group Will and The Way, which includes Jason Fowler (guitar and vocals) and Scott Davidson (drums). The trio fuses pop and classic rock to create a dynamic sound Turpin describes as “mega sweet rock ‘n’ roll candy.”

He recently gave me an interview regarding the "spooktacular" extravaganza.

Q:You're getting ready to headline the Halloween Rock Review on Saturday, Oct. 29 at the French Market in Locust Grove. It's a place you're quite familiar with having played there a few times before. What do you like about the venue?

WT: It's close to where I live, and my buddy Rick Weaver owns the place. We often get together and dream up events and the Halloween Rock Review is just one of those grand ideas that came to fruition. Rick usually hosts solo artists on weekends, but they're usually smaller setups. But the event we're setting up is a big rock show and it'll be cool. It's a very intimate venue but we're going to pack the place and kill it with some great sounding rock 'n' roll.

Q: I hear you've got some clever things going on for this gig...can you give us a taste of what's to come?

WT: We're fusing Halloween and rock 'n' roll. So we'll open with "Helter Skelter" by the Beatles, perhaps play Ozzy Osborne's "Crazy Train" and I think we're picking up "Ghostbusters" by Ray Parker, Jr. A couple of musician buddies in costume will join us on stage - Elvis is dropping by for a couple of tunes; Willie Nelson will play a little harmonica and sing "You Were Always On My Mind,"; Angus Young of AC/DC might also stop by to jam on "Highway to Hell." And of course, I'll be doing a few songs from my new EP, The Lighthouse. It's going to be a fun evening.

Q: This is a Will and the Way billed show, which includes Jason Fowler on guitar and vocals and Scott Davidson on drums. You've already played a few shows together. Are you pleased with how the group is coming along?

WT: Real pleased. Jason and Scott are accomplished musicians and guys I've known for a long time. We've actually played and jammed with each other and it's been great fun. The Way has been an evolving thing and we hope to do some more shows and start headlining a few bills. I think we're going to have to add one more member of the group because I just can't play piano and bass. However, the three-piece is a nice solid core and we can easily add another member and fill out the sound as we progress.

Q: You just did a large show in Detroit with Collective Soul. The French Market show is going to be a much more intimate affair. Which do you prefer?

WT: It depends on the evening, but I like having both options available to me. The Detroit show was great and it was a venue I've never playhttp://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gifed before, so I liked that a lot and would go back there and play anytime. The French Market gig is going to be more of a big party and I'll be surrounded by a lot of friends. I can promise it will be a great evening.

The Lighthouse is available on iTunes and in physical form through CDBaby.com. For more information visit wwhttp://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gifw.willturpin.com.

For more information about the Halloween Rock Review, call the French Market at 770-914-9312 or visit http://www.frenchmarkettavern.com/

What: Halloween Rock Review featuring Will Turpin
Where: The French Market, 3840 Highway 42, Locust Grove
When: Saturday, Oct. 29, 9 p.m. to midnight
Cost: $15
Information: 770-914-9312 or http://www.frenchmarkettavern.com/

Turpin navigates his way in "The Lighthouse"

2011-10-25T17:00:00.003+13:00

Will Turpin is quite possibly the most laid back guy in rock ‘n’ roll, ironic considering it’s an industry based on a lot of noise and hype. On his new EP called The Lighthouse, the humble musician has cleared his throat and finally discovered his voice.

Turpin is the bassist for Collective Soul, a super group who charted an astounding seven No. 1 hits in a seven-year period. They received more airtime on the radio than any other band of its era - Nirvana, Pearl Jam, R.E.M. and Oasis weren't even close.

Their hook-laden guitar anthems and powerfully melodic songs propelled them to international stardom, multi-platinum status and were the soundtrack for millions of lives.

Nearly 18 years after the group's formation comes this first solo effort by Turpin, who navigates his way through this this five-song set of catchy and infectious tunes.

In between his duties for Collective Soul and Soccer Dad, Turpin found time to write, record, produce and distribute this work on his indie label, Gooey Music.

The Lighthouse features collaborations with former Collective Soul drummer Ryan Hoyle as well as current band mates Ed Roland (who co-wrote two of the songs), guitarist Joel Kosche, and musician Peter Stroud (electric and 12-string guitar).

Turpin sings as well as plays piano, bass, acoustic guitar and drums. He describes his sound as "mega sweet rock 'n roll candy" and offers listeners a handful of tasty treats as well as some food for thought.

"60 Seconds" - This rollicking and upbeat opener showcases Turpin's piano and bass skills while summoning the spirit of Paul McCartney and Wings. Turpin says the song is about a foolish but life-changing act that takes no more than "60 Seconds." "It's hard to wear a heavy crown. You've gotta keep your head from falling down. But if I were the King of Attributes, then what would I be to you?" cleverly hints that Turpin learned a trick or two over the years from Roland, who is an ace songwriter.

"Sailor" - Co-written with Roland, "Sailor" is a moody and introspective piece about friendships with people who need help but won't accept sound advice. When Turpin sings, "I can't save the sailor from the storm," he admits the line is in reference to Shane Evans, Collective Soul's original drummer, who was ousted from the group in 2004.

"My Star" - Turpin sings his heart out for the entire 4:35, making this The Lighthouse's most emotionally charged track. It's dedicated to his wife Donna, who has been Turpin's better half for 17 years and is “his star.” Turpin also says the song is about him when referring to "the guy who couldn't be stopped, who shoulda been shot."

"Her Name" - Written about a woman who is the constant center of attention and "everyone knows her name." Kosche's classical guitar lends a Spanish aesthetic to the tune and complements Turpin's falsetto. The second of two songs co-written with Roland.

"Sanity" - Epic and ambitious, Turpin's rails about the pitfalls of substance abuse and appeals to lost souls not to give up hope but rather find a solution. "I had a lot to lose, so I had to find another way. I found it easy to choose when I saw there was another way." The song aptly closes out The Lighthouse and promises greater things to come from Turpin.

The Lighthouse is available for download on iTunes.com and in disc form through CDBaby.com. For more information, visit www.willturpin.com

Q & A with Will Turpin on "The Lighthouse"

2011-10-24T18:54:00.004+13:00

Q: How does The Lighthouse differ musically from Collective Soul?

WT: Well, all of the melodies and music came out of my head as opposed to Ed Roland's. Obviously Collective Soul works as a band when we make records and this is all me. I play piano, acoustic guitar, bass, vocals and singing harmonies. It's more from one person's brain rather than five who comprise a group called Collective Soul.

Q: Why did you title it The Lighthouse? Does it have any significance?

WT: It does. There's a track on the record called "Sailor" and that song is about the fact that you can't help people unless they want to be helped. "I can't save the sailor from the storm" is the lyric and when talking about a lighthouse, if you don't follow the lighthouse you can't necessarily be saved.

Q: What made you finally decide to do solo project outside of Collective Soul after 18 years?

WT: That's somewhat true; I have produced some stuff here and there, singer Michael Tolcher for one. Collective Soul has pretty much been a full-time job and we've stayed busy over the years, so there hasn't been much of a chance to go out and experiment on our own.

Q: It seems like this is the year that everyone in the group has a solo project going on - Joel Kosche has released Fight Years; Dean Roland partnered with Ryan Potesta on Magnets and Ghosts and Ed Roland is heading up The Sweet Tea Project. Was that a conscious decision the band made or something that just evolved?

WT: We pretty much sat down and decided we're going to take some time off from Collective Soul and recharge our batteries. We did it before in 2001 but this time it's a totally different set of circumstances. This time was a lot more thought out than our first break.

Q: Why an EP of five songs as opposed to say an entire album?

WT: I started off with 14 tunes and as I got into it, I realized how much I wanted to do. I simply didn't have as much time and resources as I wanted, so I picked fives tunes to represent a little bit about what's going on musically with myself and wanted to get it out as soon as possible. That's really the thought process behind it. The songs I chose were the ones that came together the easiest and the best in terms of representation.

Q: How long did it take to produce The Lighthouse?

WT: Eight months but some of the songs have been around for a few years. I know that "60 Seconds" and "Her Name" are at least three to five years old. Some of the songs and lyrics had been written but from the time I whittled the list from 14 to five songs, that process was about eight months.

Q: Let’s talk about the studio where you cut most of these songs – Real 2 Reel Studios – a studio your father founded and where acts like .38 Special and Wet Willie once recorded. It must be a second home for you?

WT: It felt very natural and my father raised a family on that studio. I've recorded there so often throughout the years, I'm now 40, and the last 18 years have gone by in the blink of an eye. I'm glad I did my first solo work at Real 2 Reel because of the comfort level and the crew helped the songs get to be where they needed to be. The room is just beautiful, amazing. When you're there you're hunkered inside and working. It's a very functional place that I just so happen to have a key.

Q: You’re known for your bass playing, but most of songs on The Lighthouse are piano-based. That's going to be a bit of a surprise to your fans.

WT: I started off on the piano and received lessons starting at eight and continued until I was 12. I was also a music major in percussion in college when I went to Florida State University and Georgia State University. I was playing percussion in many different ways between private lessons and hand drums with Jimmy Buffett cover bands to marimbas in symphonies. I was doing that when we got signed to Atlantic Records back in the early 1990s. Music is pretty much all I've ever done and it's always flowed through me. My friends say I can pick up any instrument and make it sound good, so I guess there's something to that.

Q: And that leads to my next question: is melody something you're born with or something you have to work at?

WT: That's sorta like the evolution question...which came first, the chicken or the egg? I think that might an intrinsic quality you're born with. I certainly believe there's an aptitude for it and perhaps it is something in the genes.

Q: Melody seems to flow naturally out of Collective Soul and you on this new EP.

WT: Right. It has always felt natural to me and I hope it feels that way to everybody else. And of course, the Beatles have always been a big influence on me when it comes to melody.

Q: Let’s talk about the five songs on the EP, starting with “60 Seconds.” Tell me what the song's about?

WT: That song is about making a small but very bad decision. The kind of decision that's crucial and yet not affecting the entirety of your life. Maybe more specifically when someone chooses to have random sex with someone they don't know (laughs).

Q: Going back to “Sailor”, it almost sounds as if you were describing a person who needed saving, perhaps a person with substance abuse problem?

WT: There's a tinge of that in the song. I have a very close friend, Shane Evans, our former drummer, and I saw some of that in him. It's about not being able to save someone even if you're showing them the way, they still have to come to that decision on their own.

Q: "My Star," is the real standout track in my opinion. The song is very emotional. Who is it about?

WT: That's about my wife, Donna. She's my star. We've been married 17 years and have three boys. The song is also about me. I'm the guy, who "couldn't be stopped, who shoulda been shot," all that stuff.

Q: "Her Name" is the second song you co-wrote with band mate Ed Roland ("Sailor" was the first). What was that experience like?

WT: They were just songs we wrote when hanging out together. The exception being the songs were my ideas, not Ed's and so he helped me flesh them out. "Her Name" is about someone who's always the center of attention. Everyone knows that someone who walks into a room or party and it becomes lively, thus "everyone knows her name." Then when they get home, they're just the opposite. They're quiet, maybe a little depressed and find it hard to deal with themselves. Joel Kosche plays classical guitar on that and gives it a real Spanish, Julio Iglesias vibe.

Q: You also called upon former Collective Soul drummer Ryan Hoyle to drum on the tracks. You obviously have a lot of musicians in your circle of friends, so why did you go with Ryan?

Q: Ryan's a very musical drummer and that's very hard to find. He's a perfectionist and he takes it to the most finite detail as far as how he approaches drums as an instrument. He's a great player and he's got a helluva studio. He's got every drum you can think of and his studio is like a toy store. Ryan can play it, engineer it, and got all the drums and microphones ready to go. I'd say the songs were about half-way done when Ryan got them and he's so smart he knew exactly where the direction of the songs were going. Some keeper vocals were on there and some he received with scratch vocals, it just depended on the song. But Ryan's drumming just enhanced whatever I did and gave it the full power it needed. The amazing thing was we didn't spend a whole lot of time talking about the arrangement of the song. He just played and he found the most important parts real quickly.

Q: "Sanity"?

WT: "Sanity" is more specifically about substance abuse or getting into any kind of rut and using something as a crutch. It's the most ambitious track on The Lighthouse and bridges the gap to the next batch of songs I'm working on. I wanted to give everyone a taste of where I'm heading. There's one song I'm working on that's pretty epic. In fact, the working title is "The Fall and Epic." I'm trying to find more resources and outlets for my music and continue to put out the songs.

Q: What did you learn about yourself after producing, distributing, starting your own label and now promoting The Lighthouse?

WT: It's kind of daunting when you invest and promote yourself as an artist, so that's the first thing I learned. It's a lot of work, but the experience has been rewarding. Luckily, the reaction has been really good. I've learned I want more for myself and I feel good about finishing the songs and I want to finish more.

Q: Does this mean we might see more Will Turpin songs show up on Collective Soul releases in the future?

WT: Possibly. I'd like that.

The Lighthouse is available for download on iTunes.com and in disc form through CDBaby.com. For more information, visit www.willturpin.com

Will Turpin on "The Lighthouse"

2011-10-22T19:20:00.004+13:00

Cold wind, blowin’ down the street the sun is not out today
All night, thinkin’ bout a way to put things back in their place
I can’t put the fire out alone,
I can't save the sailor from the storm

The Lighthouse
Gooey Music, 2011

Rhythm, harmony and melody’s been a theme in my life as far back as I can remember
—and I’m 40. Having a sense of melody is sorta like the evolution question...which
came first, the chicken or the egg? It’s an intrinsic quality you're born with. I
certainly believe there's an aptitude for it; and, perhaps it’s something in the
genes.

My father, Bill Turpin, had those genes. He was a touring musician before opening
Real 2 Reel Studios back in 1976 in Jonesboro, Georgia. He raised his family there
and that’s definitely where part of my aptitude for music grew. It just felt
natural. I'm glad I did my first solo work at Real 2 Reel because of the comfort
level. The crew helped me get the songs where they needed to be.

I’ve worked hard to make my new stuff on The Lighthouse very personal, textured and rich in melody. They’re songs of love, hope, friendship, vanity, addiction, despair, bad decisions and positive solutions—you know, Tree of Life stuff.

My three boys are very musical and have great rhythm. They’ll learn that Tree of
Life stuff as they get out into the world. Right now we just play a lot of soccer
and spend a lot of quality time together. They think Dad’s being a rock star is
just one of those things you can do in life. I’ve started a little band with them
and we’ve even written a song together. We jam together. If my boys decide they
want a musical career, I’ll support them. My wife, Donna, and I facilitate anything
positive that they want to do and help them learn the tools to accomplish those
things. We’ve been together 17 years now. She’s “My Star.”

In the meantime, I hope that everyone enjoys The Lighthouse. The EP was hard work
and took eight months to whittle 14 songs down to five. It’s highly personal,
representing what’s going on with me musically and personally. When all’s said and
done, I’ll keep doing what I always do, try to be a good dad, put food on the table,
keep making music and count my blessings.

Look around and let the world explain...

Will Turpin
www.willturpin.com

Will Turpin's thoughts on "The Lighthouse"

2011-10-22T19:16:00.003+13:00

Cold wind, blowin’ down the street the sun is not out today
All night, thinkin’ bout a way to put things back in their place
I can’t put the fire out alone,
I can't save the sailor from the storm

The Lighthouse
Gooey Music, 2011

Rhythm, harmony and melody’s been a theme in my life as far back as I can remember
—and I’m 40. Having a sense of melody is sorta like the evolution question...which
came first, the chicken or the egg? It’s an intrinsic quality you're born with. I
certainly believe there's an aptitude for it; and, perhaps it’s something in the
genes.

My father, Bill Turpin, had those genes. He was a touring musician before opening
Real 2 Reel Studios back in 1976 in Jonesboro, Georgia. He raised his family there
and that’s definitely where part of my aptitude for music grew. It just felt
natural. I'm glad I did my first solo work at Real 2 Reel because of the comfort
level. The crew helped me get the songs where they needed to be.

I’ve worked hard to make my new stuff on The Lighthouse very personal, textured and
rich in melody. They’re songs of love, hope, friendship, vanity, addiction,
despair, bad decisions and positive solutions—you know, Tree of Life stuff.

My three boys are very musical and have great rhythm. They’ll learn that Tree of
Life stuff as they get out into the world. Right now we just play a lot of soccer
and spend a lot of quality time together. They think Dad’s being a rock star is
just one of those things you can do in life. I’ve started a little band with them
and we’ve even written a song together. We jam together. If my boys decide they
want a musical career, I’ll support them. My wife, Donna, and I facilitate anything
positive that they want to do and help them learn the tools to accomplish those
things. We’ve been together 17 years now. She’s “My Star.”

In the meantime, I hope that everyone enjoys The Lighthouse. The EP was hard work
and took eight months to whittle 14 songs down to five. It’s highly personal,
representing what’s going on with me musically and personally. When all’s said and
done, I’ll keep doing what I always do, try to be a good dad, put food on the table,
keep making music and count my blessings.

Look around and let the world explain...

WT

Will Turpin headlines Halloween Rock Review

2011-10-21T11:38:00.003+13:00

Multi-platinum artist Will Turpin will headline the annual Halloween Rock Review at the French Market, 3840 Highway 42, Locust Grove. The show starts 9 p.m. on Saturday, Oct. 29.

Best known for playing bass guitar in Collective Soul, Turpin released his first solo work earlier this month, a five-song EP called The Lighthouse (Gooey Music, 2011). Turpin will appear with his three-piece group Will and The Way, which includes Jason Fowler (guitar and vocals) and Scott Davidson (drums). The trio fuses pop and classic rock to create a dynamic sound Turpin describes as “mega sweet rock ‘n’ roll candy.”

Turpin’s other band, Collective Soul, has released eight studio albums, one live album, one greatest hits compilation, one EP, 27 singles and 19 music videos. Their hook-laden guitar anthems and powerfully melodic songs propelled them to international stardom, multi-platinum status (12 million and counting) and were the soundtrack for millions of lives.

The Lighthouse features collaborations with former Collective Soul drummer Ryan Hoyle as well as current band mates Ed Roland (who co-wrote two of the songs), guitarist Joel Kosche, and musician Peter Stroud (electric and 12-string guitar). Turpin sings as well as plays piano, bass, acoustic guitar and drums. Songs include “60 Seconds”, “Sailor”, “My Star”, “Her Name” and “Sanity.”

The Lighthouse is available for download on iTunes.com and in disc form through CDBaby.com. For more information, visit www.willturpin.com
For more information about the Halloween Rock Review, call the French Market at 770-914-9312 or visit http://www.frenchmarkettavern.com/

What: Halloween Rock Review featuring Will Turpin
Where: The French Market, 3840 Highway 42, Locust Grove
When: Saturday, Oct. 29, 9 p.m. to midnight
Cost: $15
Information: 770-914-9312 or http://www.frenchmarkettavern.com/

Coffee Talk with Laurence Juber

2011-10-15T11:06:00.003+13:00

Two-time Grammy-Award winning guitar artist Laurence Juber will make a rare and intimate appearance this weekend at the Cave Creek Coffee Company, 6033 E. Cave Creek Road in Cave Creek, Arizona. The show starts 7:30 p.m. on Saturday, Oct. 15. Often considered most famous for playing lead guitar in Wings from 1978 to 1981, Juber, known as ‘LJ’, has since had a distinguished career as a solo finger-style guitarist.

LJ graciously granted me an interview to promote his upcoming Cave Creek appearance. As always, the virtuoso was in rare form.

Q: You’ve been on a mini-tour of our lovely state. What do you think of Arizona?

LJ: I enjoy Arizona, especially the northern portion. Last year I played in Flagstaff and right now I’m headed to Cottonwood. I like the audiences here, too, because they are not only enthusiastic but actually show up. That’s always a good thing!

Q: In between shows, you also do guitar workshops. What are those like?

LJ: They’re definitely more on the technical end of the spectrum of what I do. It’s usually a group lesson between eight and 20 people, showing them tips, tricks and ways to improve their playing. I also explain my process for arranging and playing the solo acoustic guitar, how to get sound, resonance and character from the instrument. I pass on my knowledge and experience on how to create a solid musical experience.

Q: It’s been a while since you’ve played at the Cave Creek Coffee Co.? How do you like the venue?

LJ: I remember it being a really cool place. When I first played there, it was a smallish coffee house and I played indoors. The last time I played they had moved the stage to the outside and there was a much bigger crowd. It’s a great vibe being outdoors and in the desert. It’s a great evening.

Q: At your concerts, you play all styles of music, including a nice sampling of the Beatles. Why are their songs so magical?

LJ: (laughs) Every time I hear a Beatles record I gain a new appreciation. Above and beyond the analytical part of it and creating the arrangements, when I start deconstructing Beatles songs, I find unexpected things. I can never listen to a Beatles record twice and hear exactly the same thing. There’s always something that I’ve missed, or a new discovery where you say, “Wow, what was that little guitar lick?” Or the way in which the backing vocals come in…there’s always something new to discover in their work.

Q: Did you hear that Cave Creek is hosting a running of the bulls hours before your gig?

LJ: I heard about it…No bull at my show.

For more information, call the Cave Creek Coffee Company at 480-488-0603 or visit www.cavecreekcoffee.com/

What: Laurence Juber
Where: Cave Creek Coffee Company, 6033 E. Cave Creek Road
When: 7:30 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 15
Cost: $20 advance; $23 at the door
Information: 480-488-0633 or www.cavecreekcoffee.com

Laurence Juber interview Pt. 1

2011-10-14T13:55:00.004+13:00

In anticipation of Laurence Juber's concert at the Cave Creek Coffee Co. at 7:15 p.m. on Saturday, Oct. 15, I dusted off this candid and definitive two-part interview. Juber discusses the influence of the Beatles on his life, his career as a studio musician in London, the making of Back to the Egg and how he earned his musical degree from ‘McCartney University.’

Daytrippin’: I heard a curious story about you that almost seemed too good to be true, and so I have to ask – the first week that “I Want to Hold Your Hand” was released in Britain, it was also the same week you first picked up a guitar…true or false?

Juber: That’s essentially true. I had been wanting to pick up a guitar for some time, but there was a period in the summer of 1963 where Beatlemania came into full force in the UK. As a result, you really couldn’t get away from the fact that everything was all about pop music, especially at such an impressionable age. I really wanted to play the guitar, not specifically because of the Beatles, but because of The Shadows, who were Cliff Richard’s backing group and they performed all of these instrumental hits – that was just wonderful stuff. Then at the same time it was the start of the James Bond films, which had great twangy guitar sounds, which also influenced me.

In England music lessons started in junior high, so that was right around the start of my musical journey. My dad had wanted me to play the saxophone and at the time, I didn’t want to play the sax, so I compromised and said I’d play the clarinet. It turned out there weren’t enough clarinets to go around, so I got a guitar for my 11th birthday, which was in November of 1963. “I Want to Hold Your Hand” came out about a week later. So it wasn’t specifically the Beatles as much as it was the entire pop scene and all the energy that was going around at the time.

The Beatles were a significant part of the whole thing happening in music. It was like jumping into a river and being carried along by the current because it was all going in that direction. I went into my teen years being swept along in this amazing Renaissance that was happening in pop music in England at the time.

Daytrippin’: And so who are the other musical influences you had as a youth?

Juber: It’s an extremely long list, too long to detail here because I was listening to everything. I was not only into rock ‘n’ roll but jazz and folk too. By the time I had turned 13, people were paying me to play. It was then I realized that this was something that I wanted to do for a living, but I also recognized that I had a certain kind of versatility. I was interested in a lot of different styles of music. I learned to how finger-pick Bob Dylan tunes, learned to play the Bossa Nova, taking jazz records and slowing them down from 33 1/3 to 16 so I could figure out what the guitar was doing. There were also a lot of West Coast jazz and studio players like Barney Kessell and Howard Roberts, as well as the Belgian gypsy jazz guitarist Django Reinhardt, who was very popular in England. There was also the English folk scene with people like Bert Jansch and Martin Carthy, who are still great folk singers, and finger-pickers.

I also had a band with a group of friends, and we’d play every Saturday night. We were always buying the latest Beatles records, the Stones, the Who and we’d learn it, rehearse it, play it and that was our Saturday night thing. Then I got into Clapton, Beck, Page — the English blues-driven players. There was also Radio Luxembourg, which played all the Top 40 tunes before the BBC got hip. I guess they had to because of all the pirate radio stations. They played all the big American hits as well as Motown, which of course, was great. I’d listen at night, focus in on what the bass player was doing, what the drummer was doing, and really deconstruct the music. I also started listening to orchestral music and became very analytical about how I listened to that too. So, a lot of influences, way more than I could repeat.

Daytrippin’: I assume your parents must have been quite encouraging?

Juber: There was some encouragement up to a certain point. Both of my parents grew up in London in World War II during the blitz and the evacuations so they never had much of an education. My dad left school at 14 and my mom at 15. They were encouraging to the point where they thought it was great I kept myself occupied with a hobby but they wanted to make sure that I had something to fall back on. They had visions of me being a doctor or at the very least a pharmacist or accountant or something like that. I told them at a very young age I intended to make my living as a guitar player, so they were supportive to a point. I also didn’t grow up in a very musical household, so that level of nurture really came from inside. I was very self-directed.

[Photo courtesy Laurence Juber]

Daytrippin’: After you graduated from London University with a Bachelor of Music in 1975, how did you start getting booked as a studio musician and where were some sessions/albums you played on pre-Wings?

Juber: My ambition in life was to become a studio musician, so after high school I took a year off, which is what they now call the “gap” year. I was a pioneer of the gap year (laughs). What I did was work professionally for that one year, and I was playing jazz and folk clubs and demo sessions, generally making myself available as a musician and paying dues in London. I also joined the National Youth Jazz Orchestra, which was something of a training ground for studio musicians. I then attended London University but I was still gigging, playing clubs and being the substitute guitarist for the West End production of Jesus Christ Superstar. I was supporting myself with music and learning as much as I could, but more importantly, making those connections to be able to transition full-time into a studio musician when I graduated. My reputation got around and I eventually was introduced to various record producers and arrangers.

One of the albums I played on was Alan Parson’s Tales of Mystery and Imagination. I had no idea at the time what the session was for. I found out from a magazine interview that Alan did 30 years later. I played on the score for The Spy Who Love Me, which was a James Bond film. I played on a cool record that Rosemary Clooney did in London. I also worked with Shirley Bassey, John Williams and Jimmy Rafferty. One of the first album sessions I did was for Cleo Laine, who is a great English jazz singer and the producer was George Martin. Sessions for European artists too: Charles Aznavour from France, Lucio Battiste from Italy. A lot of stuff that didn’t necessarily make an impression on the US market. I played on a lot of records for a French artist named Cerrone, who was the ‘other’ Euro disco king, sort of like Georgio Moroder. Again, I had no idea how successful the releases were until many years later. I was very busy in that period.

Daytrippin’: Tell us how you got the gig for Wings?

Juber: I was working in the house band for “The David Essex Show” and Denny Laine was as guest on the show. Denny played “Go Now” and liked how I played the solo. We bonded musically and that was it. About six months later I got a call from Paul’s office MPL – ironically I was playing a session at Abbey Road Studios 2. They said, “Denny wants to know if you can come jam on Monday, and, oh by the way Paul and Linda will be there…”

In the period between when I first met Denny and the audition, I actually ran into all of them at Air Studios. I was early for a session and they were in there mixing the soundtrack for “Oriental Nightfish,” Linda’s tune for an animated film. They were running late and invited me in to see what was going on, so I got to meet everybody and hang out. Jimmy McCullough was already out of the band at that point, but it really wasn’t on my radar that they were looking for a guitar player. I do remember that around that time I was working on a TV show in Manchester, which was a weekly pop show and it was the first time that I had seen the video for “With a Little Luck.” It was the first thing where Steve Holly was visible and I remember someone saying, “That’s the new Wings drummer and I hear they’re looking for a guitarist.” Then I got this call from out of the blue.

Daytrippin’: From what I understand, the audition process was very informal, jamming and playing a bunch of rock (“Johnny B. Goode”) and reggae songs, and hanging out.

Juber: Very much so. I really didn’t know much of the Wings’ repertoire and I had to borrow a bunch of albums from my brother the previous weekend. I tend to do well at cold auditions and I was lucky. Really, I was quite busy with my session work and I had a big choice to make: do I continue along with my career, that I had been working on since I was a teenager or do I join Wings? I thought about it for a nanosecond. It seemed like one of those gigs that you shouldn’t turn down and I’m glad I didn’t, because I learned so much from that experience.

Daytrippin’: What was your first official gig for Wings?

Juber: The first official gig was when we recorded a song at RAK Studios in London called “Same Time Next Year” and I believe that was in May 1978. (Editor’s note: Curiously, the song was released on the final credits of the 1985 Ann-Margret film, Twice in a Lifetime) I had another gig playing on a variety show, so I couldn’t be at the session for the string overdubs. Then we went up to Scotland (at McCartney’s farm) getting to know each other. During that period is when we filmed the video for “I’ve Had Enough” (the second single from London Town).

Daytrippin’: I always thought it was strange that you had to mimic a guitar part that Jimmy McCullough recorded. Did it seem strange to you?

Juber: It wasn’t strange at all. That’s kind of par for the course as a musician because you often find yourself playing someone else’s part, especially if it’s a famous song. To be honest, I knew I was stepping into Jimmy McCullough’s shoes and it was a perfectly reasonable transition. I really didn’t give it much thought, but what was interesting was the filming of the video. We shot it all night and it was a one-camera shoot with film that was transferred to video. I had never done a video before because I had only done live TV shows up to that point.

Here’s a funny story: years later I played a guitar part for Eric Carmen on a song called “Make Me Lose Control”, which became a hit. As the record was about to come out, I got a call from a company who wanted me to be in the video. Well, they had no idea I had played on the record and thought I would be mimicking someone else’s performance. So I got to mimic my own.

Daytrippin’: Back to the Egg was a big concept, had a big sound and certainly was an ambitious undertaking (i.e. Rockestra, videos, touring, promotion). Do you think that was tied to the fact that McCartney had just signed a new multi-million dollar contract for Columbia or that he had felt it was time to do something bigger with Wings?

Juber: There was no perception in the doing of it that it was ‘bigger’ than normal. I think what happened with that album, and the title was reflective of the fact, was that Paul had been heading in a softer direction and this was a change. After Wings Over America, he recorded “Mull of Kintyre” and “With A Little Luck” and the London Town sessions. There wasn’t really as much of a rock component to those sessions. “I’ve Had Enough” was about as heavy as things got at that point. Steve Holly was a heavier and more rocking drummer than Joe English, which is not a jab at Joe, it was just a matter of styles. Steve had more of a British backbeat.

Producer Chris Thomas (Pink Floyd, Elton John, Roxy Music, INXS) had already been brought on board to co-produce the record. If you look at Chris’ timeline, he did Back to the Egg between the Sex Pistols and The Pretenders. He tends to raise the concept level of his projects and is a Beatle insider going back to the White Album. Phil McDonald engineered, who was one of the Abbey Road-era people too. We knew from the get-go that it was going to be a more basic vibe. There’s certainly a significant rock element to that album especially in the “Rockestra” bits, and there’s also, which was typical in the 1970s English rock scene, a folk element. I mean, you saw that a lot with Led Zeppelin and Jethro Tull, but of course, Paul articulates it in his own way. So yes, it was going to be a rock-flavored album, but it was still just an eclectic bunch of songs.

There was a richness to the Columbia record deal that had given Paul a substantial publishing catalog and the label certainly had ambitions at the time. It was overseen by Walter Yentikoff, Bruce Lundvall, Don Devito, Paul Atkinson and other people who were quite legendary figures in the record business. Certainly there was an expectation that putting Paul McCartney on your record label would have a certain kind of size to it, but by the time it was released in June 1979 the economy was not doing that great and the record business hit the wall. All of the labels had gotten it into their heads that somehow every album that was released should do better than Fleetwood Mac’s Rumors or Saturday Night Fever. That was a phase and sales went back to normal, relatively speaking. Just the ebb and flow of things. Nevertheless, Back to the Egg did quite well and could have done even better had he put “Goodnight Tonight” on the album.

Daytrippin’: Agreed. I’ve always felt that was a major mistake on his part and the difference between going platinum and triple platinum had he included “Goodnight Tonight” (a Top 5 hit in America) and “Daytime Nightime Suffering” on the album.

Juber: Absolutely, it would have made a significant difference. But that goes back to the Beatles and the mentality about singles and albums. The Beatles deal with EMI was two albums a year and and four singles, A and B sides. So, with very few exceptions, in the UK you didn’t get the singles on the albums. But we had talked about it…he said, “They want to do this but I’d rather give more value for money…” So it didn’t get put on the album.

Daytrippin’: And the same thing happened again with “Coming Up,” which Paul was later forced to put on McCartney II as a 7-inch single.

Juber: That was interesting, too, because what happened with Back to the Egg, and continued through the UK tour was that we kind of forged ourselves as a rock band. You can hear it on the Last Flight CD (a bootleg CD from their last live show) from Glasgow, Scotland, and the released live version of “Coming Up” came from that show. There was a dichotomy going on where we were a tight rock band and Paul had just done the solo album McCartney II, which was kind of quirky and a bit left-field. And quite truthfully, Columbia didn’t know how to market Paul’s music like Capitol did. But they did take notice when US rock radio started playing the live B-side of the single and it went to No. 1 for three weeks in the Summer of 1980. Columbia were obliged to add the 7-inch single to the McCartney II album as people were expecting the single to be on there. Paul’s video was cool though.

We did the UK tour with the Japanese tour lined up right behind it, and the intention to tour the US in the summer of 1980. So when you listen to the live stuff, there’s this rock band, a certain kind of heaviness that evolved out of the Back to the Egg sessions. The problem was that where Paul was going in terms of his writing was a different direction, which ultimately turned out to be Tug of War and Pipes of Peace. It was a body of material that wasn’t as well suited to a rock band, and neither of those are rock albums. Tunes like “Ballroom Dancing” and “Average Person” are coming from a different place. It’s more of a mature sound and it’s an artist who is settling down into a true solo career, who has his kids settled in school and has moved out of London. After John Lennon died, which had to play some role in all of this, Paul didn’t tour again until 1989.

Daytrippin’: So Wings had actually rehearsed the material for the Tug of War sessions?

Juber: Yes, but most of those sessions were unproductive because we were working on songs that were more mature and not reflective of Wings. We had evolved a band identity and this was feeling more like a Macca solo project; I would have been happier developing the tunes in the studio rather than rehearsals. It was a step back in a way for me, because, working within the band context, Paul gave me a great deal of latitude on Back to the Egg. There I’d offer up an idea and he’d either nod or he’d kind of raise an eyebrow and then I’d tweak it. I remember very specifically when we were mixing “After the Ball,” I’d played an acoustic slide part and sat there just thinking, “I’d like to get my hand on that fader.” I’d never been an engineer at that point and Paul noticed my discomfort and said, “Laurence, you run that fader.” Not only did he accept my contribution but encouraged me to put it to the forefront.

Daytrippin’: Your personality certainly shows on Back to the Egg, which is interesting given your versatility and adaptability.

Juber: It’s interesting because at the time I was being my chameleon self as a studio player. In the course of time, and this is something you don’t recognize at the time, I can listen back and say with some objectivity, “Hey, I had a sound and style back then.”

Daytrippin’: And it was a nice fit in that particular incarnation of the band – each of you had roles within the band and you not only played them perfectly, but there was room enough for everyone to shine and let your personality show through.

Juber: I think so, certainly in the musical sense. Obviously there were other dynamics going on within the band in terms of where Paul and Linda were at in their lives, what was going on with Denny in his life, the more personality-driven aspects of the band.

Daytrippin’: You’ve stated before that watching Paul in the studio was an eye-opening experience because you were able to see him as a composer and how he fleshed out songs. So with that said, did he come into the studio with the finished song in his head and you just laid down the tracks, or was it a situation that he fleshed them out with your help?

Juber: A lot of the time it was a finished song, but not always. In the case of “Old Siam, Sir,” we were jamming one day and Steve Holly was playing keyboards and had this chord sequence. I’m not sure if Paul was playing drums or if it was Linda because we’d trade off in a jamming situation, but what ended up happening was that ended up in the instrumental section of the song. I always felt that Steve should have received some sort of nod for that. Unfortunately, that’s the nature of the process in that you don’t always get full credit for what you contribute as a musician, especially as the song-writing is traditionally words and melody, not chords, licks and grooves. If you could copyright a rhythm, Bo Diddley would have been very happy.

Daytrippin’: But was there a time when you did see Paul flesh out a song that was half-finished or not a full idea?

Juber: Yes, Denny had written two incomplete songs and Paul suggested he merge the two, and that turned out to be “Again and Again and Again.” That was Paul kind of wearing his producer hat at the time, but to the best of my recollection, most of the songs he brought in for Back to the Egg were complete to the extent where there might be a minor change to a lyric, but the song itself was pretty much there.

“Getting Closer” and the unreleased song “Cage” were off of demos, the latter being one that Paul and Denny did together. There were times when there was a demo aspect to the sessions, and in some cases we created demos to see how the tune was shaping up. We did a version of “Love Awake” that wasn’t a final version, as well as a demo of “Rockestra Theme” with just Wings so that everybody else could hear before the big session. Typically the song was there, but in terms of production, getting the sound and arrangements right, that mostly took place in the studio. I remember “Daytime Nightime Suffering”, which he composed over the weekend and came in with that on a Monday morning and we went right to work on it. Paul was always very concise with his writing and was usually complete by the time we came to record it. So the fleshing out was always on the production end of things, and occasionally we’d hear something that he was working on and then the next time he played it you could hear the progression. “Ebony and Ivory” comes to mind.

Daytrippin’: The group recorded “Back to the Egg” in several different places – McCartney’s farm in Scotland; Lympne Castle in Kent and Replica and EMI Studios in London. In your opinion, did your surroundings have any influence on how you played or recorded a song?

Juber: I certainly think the surroundings impacted the sound of the record. For example, we were recording “We’re Open Tonight” at Lympne Castle and I was sitting in the middle of a spiral staircase in a 13th Century castle with a 12-string acoustic guitar. There’s certainly something to be said for the ambient aspect of your surroundings. Being on the farm in Scotland definitely added to the rawness of “Spin It On” “Old Siam, Sir” and “To You”.

Daytrippin’: Wouldn’t it be fair to say that Back to the Egg is a British-sounding album?

Juber: It is very British. Other than the Fender, Gibson and Martin guitars, there’s nothing American about the sound of it and some of that is purely technical. Amplifiers sound different at 50 cycles than they do at 60 cycles. Just the AC power makes a difference to the sound of the equipment, the way the record was produced, the way the drums were miked, was more English than American; the players were English. Look at Ram…it sounds so much like a New York album. It was recorded in there and the players were all from the area, and there’s kind of a New York energy to it. Denny Seiwell shines on that record.

Conversely, we did a lot of stuff at Abbey Road, which is about as English as it gets. We created Replica Studio in the basement of Paul’s office Soho Square primarily for mixing, but we did some recording there too. The track for “Daytime Nightime Suffering” was all recorded there. The drums were placed in a room where the coffee machine was. That’s where I also did the acoustic solo for “Goodnight Tonight.” It’s a different kind of vibe.

Daytrippin’: Back to the Egg was not only a big and powerful album, but it was eclectic. The range of songs from full on rockers (“Rockestra Theme”; “Spin it On”; “So Glad to See You Here; “Old Siam, Sir”) to mid-tempo (“Arrow Through Me”; “Again and Again and Again”) to ballads (“Winter Rose/Love Awake”) to original standards (“Baby’s Request”) to instrumentals (“Reception” and “Rockestra Theme”). I recall seeing a Brian Wilson interview on television saying how much fun and wild Wings were because he never knew what to expect.

Juber: I had no idea he said that…that’s great because, if anyone is equally eclectic to Paul in terms of the production process, it’s Brian Wilson. And, of course, Brian was revered in England. Pet Sounds was not a huge hit in America but it was the Sergeant Pepper precursor in England. I’d have to say Paul was the most eclectic artist I’ve ever worked with. It’s in his nature. This goes back to the Beatles. They were a very eclectic band. How many bands can you look at and say this was an incredible live rock ‘n’ roll band, before they ever made a record! They were also an incredible R & B band…look at their R & B influences, especially John. “All I’ve Got to Do” is proto-Al Green. Take that song and look at it, it’s in that Smokey Robinson kind of area. In fact, it was one of the songs I did for LJ Plays the Beatles Vol. 2. It was so cool to do because it had such an immediate vibe about it. Their version of the Shirelles “Baby, It’s You” is as good, if not better than the original version. Fantastic R & B group, but you add that to the fact they were the most phenomenal pop group and the greatest bunch of studio musicians. What they did in the studio as musicians was amazing, beyond the obvious progression as recording artists and songwriters.

It really hit home when I listened to Let It Be…Naked a few years back and what was going on in terms of the guitar parts. Quite often John and George would really work out these cool two-guitar parts – “And Your Bird Can Sing” for example – sometimes you don’t even realize that it’s two guitars, but they were very much into that. Paul was always eclectic because he was so versatile. I believe Back to the Egg exemplifies a rock album, a folk album, a pop album, and certainly less geared to an American consciousness by comparison let’s say to Venus and Mars. It was also a blessing and a curse. At the time, that eclecticism wasn’t appreciated. It was a two-star album in 1979 and it’s a four-star album in 2010. As time has gone on, I think people have come to re-evaluate it in terms of Paul’s body of work and what was going on at the time in the music scene.

When you deconstruct the music, for example “Arrow Through Me”, harmonically it is almost like Duke Ellington could have had written it. I think “Again and Again and Again” was one of Denny’s more immediate and interesting contributions…

Daytrippin’: And speaking of Denny, I know it’s a rather obvious thing to say, but in doing my research for this interview, including watching a lot of videos, it really hit home for me that Denny was quite visible and a major presence in this band. I know there are reports from him that he felt like a sideman at times, but his face was out there front and center.

Juber: Absolutely. There is no question that Wings as a core group is the Paul, Linda and Denny ensemble. This is where it carries over into getting Wings into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Wings was not just Paul McCartney post-Beatles. Wings was Paul McCartney’s group post Beatles, if that makes sense. If you go see Paul now and when he does a Wings song in his set, it’s great but there is something missing. You’re not hearing Linda’s voice; you’re not hearing Denny’s voice; you’re not getting the qualities that they brought to Paul’s work. It was a tempering. I think Paul recognized that he needed a foil, without John being around. Obviously, no one could fill in for John Lennon but Denny has his own eclecticism with his gypsy/folk sensibilities with an R & B voice and rock guitar prowess. And Linda was kinda the glue. Things just worked better with Linda there in the room because she was Paul’s soulmate and the female balancing part of his creative energy. There was a dynamic that happened and, as much as Paul will perform a Wings song and you tap your foot and sing along with it and think, “What a great song,” it doesn’t sound like Wings. I do appreciate the fact that he plays some of those tunes though.

Daytrippin’: I’ve always felt that he personally never gave Wings enough credit despite the fact they had 14 Top Ten hits in America (six of those going to No. 1) and eight Top Ten albums (five of those at No. 1). Today they’d be considered a supergroup.

Juber: Well, Wings was a supergroup. I remember listening to Kasey Casem’s American Top 40 on the radio and they had the top groups of all-time. The Beatles were No. 1 and Wings was something like No. 3. I had no idea we were quite that big.

Daytrippin’: I guess my point is that I get the feeling that Paul never viewed them as a supergroup…that they were just his little band and they were forced to live in the shadow of the Beatles. Wings’ music was the soundtrack of many young lives in the 1970s, including mine, and I don’t believe he’s ever reconciled that part of his musical career. Look at Wingspan (the CD) – he padded it out with solo material that simply didn’t belong on there.

Juber: Wings were simply above and beyond Paul’s solo career. But I think Paul, in the nature of writing his own legacy, he’s certainly entitled to write his version of history or how he perceived it, but the fact is there are other factors in the scenario and other people have their opinions, too. I too was a little disappointed with Wingspan (the documentary) that so much time was devoted to the breakup of the Beatles and not enough time was spent on Wings and the progression of the band and what it really represented from a musical point of view. But that’s just water under the bridge. For me, Wings was a great experience and anything that happens in the history books is sort of a bonus thing. I got my Master’s degree from McCartney University and that’s good enough for me.

Look for Laurence Juber at the Cave Creek Coffee Co. Saturday, Oct. 15 in Cave Creek, Arizona or visit www.cavecreekcoffee.com

Will Turpin talks live to Red Velvet Media

2011-10-14T13:16:00.005+13:00

Join Red Velvet Media host Holly Stephey live as she talks to bassist Will Turpin of Collective Soul about his days and nights with the band and his new solo project, The Lighthouse.

Fans, admirers and music buffs are encouraged to call in and talk to Turpin or ask him questions. The call in number for the show is (347) 677-1036.

For more information on The Lighthouse, visit www.itunes.com, wwww.collectivesoul.com or www.willturpin.com

Former Wings guitarist plays Cave Creek

2011-10-13T18:47:00.003+13:00

Two-time Grammy-Award winning artist Laurence Juber will make a rare and intimate appearance this weekend at the Cave Creek Coffee Company, 6033 E. Cave Creek Road in Cave Creek, Arizona. The show starts 7:30 p.m. on Saturday, Oct. 15.

Often considered most famous for playing lead guitar in Wings from 1978 to 1981, Juber has since had a distinguished career as a solo finger-style guitarist.

A world-class guitar virtuoso solo artist, composer and arranger, Juber fuses folk, jazz, pop and classical styles and creates a multi-faceted performance that belies the use of only one instrument.

Juber has released 19 critically acclaimed solo albums since Wings folded. His latest Wooden Horses showcases Juber's compositions for solo guitar while LJ Plays The Beatles Vol. 2 is a solo acoustic guitar arrangement of 15 songs by John Lennon and Paul McCartney.

As a studio musician, he can be heard on recent albums frohttp://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gifm artists as diverse as Barry Manilow, Rod Stewart, Rosemary Clooney, John Williams, Shirley Bassey, Cleo Laine, Alan Parsons and Dan Hicks & the Hot Licks. Plus, he is also featured on the soundtracks to hundreds of TV shows and movies including the Academy Award-winning Good Will Hunting and the James Bond thriller The Spy Who Love Me.

For more information, call the Cave Creek Coffee Company at 480-488-0603 or visit www.cavecreekcoffee.com/

What: Laurence Juber
Where: Cave Creek Coffee Company, 6033 E. Cave Creek Road
When: 7:30 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 15
Information: 480-488-0633 or www.cavecreekcoffee.com

Laurence Juber makes Cave Creek appearance

2011-10-13T16:05:00.004+13:00

Will Turpin finds way in "The Lighthouse"

2011-10-11T06:32:00.004+13:00

Bassist Will Turpin of Collective Soul has a solo EP, "The Lighthouse" that will be available on Oct. 11 on Itunes.com and CDBaby.com.

The five tracks, which Turpin describes as "sweet rock 'n' roll candy" includes:

1.) 60 Seconds
2.) Sailor
3.) My Star
4.) Her Name
5.) Sanity

For more information, visit www.itunes.com, wwww.collectivesoul.com or www.willturpin.com

'King of Cool' lecture at ASU on April 7

2011-04-05T05:59:00.002+13:00

Arizona State University Welcomes Steve McQueen's Widow and Marshall Terrill

By Jeremy Roberts
Steve McQueen Examiner

Steve McQueen's widow and his biographer, Marshall Terrill, are coming to Arizona State University's Downtown Phoenix campus to discuss and celebrate the life of the ‘King of Cool’ as part of a popular lecture series. This will mark the inaugural occasion Terrill has done an actual McQueen lecture at a college, and it is Barbara McQueen's first time back to a campus in almost forty years.

They will appear at 6:30 p.m. on Thursday, April 7, 2011, at ASU’s College of Nursing and Health Innovation Building Two, 550 N. Third St., Phoenix, Innovation Auditorium, Room 110. The two will co-present, “Steve McQueen: A Tribute to the King of Cool,” answer questions, and sign copies of Terrill’s two new books Steve McQueen: The Life and Legend of a Hollywood Icon and Steve McQueen: A Tribute to the King of Cool as well as McQueen’s 2007 photo book Steve McQueen: The Last Mile.

The spring 2011 Humanities Lecture series is sponsored by ASU’s School of Letters and Sciences and University College. The event is free and open to the public.

“What does Steve McQueen have to do with the humanities?” asks Terrill, who has written four books on the cinematic icon. “In breaking down McQueen’s life, one can learn about history, human behavior, psychology, triumph and tragedy, and several invaluable life lessons.”

McQueen, known for his ultra cool and nonconformist movie persona, started out life in rural Indiana. Born to a young, alcoholic mother and abandoned by his father, McQueen was left in the care of his grandparents and other relatives when he was a toddler.

Reunited with his mother at age eight, he was introduced to a series of strange men and a violent stepfather. Compounding McQueen’s problems were his partial deafness from a childhood ear infection and his dyslexia, making adjustment to his new life and schooling particularly challenging.

McQueen frequently got into trouble and soon found himself remanded to Boys Republic, a home for troubled teenage boys in Chino, California. Following that, he joined the U.S. Marines for a three-year stint and afterward used the G.I. bill to study acting in New York in the early 1950s.
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There his rebellious angst and good looks helped him become a fixture of the emerging Method theater scene, competing with the likes of James Dean and Paul Newman, with television and movie success just around the corner.

Terrill will provide a narrative spanning McQueen’s spectacular career, his greatest films (including The Magnificent Seven, The Great Escape, The Sand Pebbles, The Thomas Crown Affair, Bullitt, The Getaway, Papillon and The Towering Inferno), his personal flaws and defeats, and his hard-fought battle with terminal cancer at a controversial clinic in Mexico.

Barbara McQueen will present a more human side to her husband in rare photos she took from 1977 to 1980. They record a behind-the-scenes look at personal pleasures enjoyed near the end of the actor’s life: hitting the road in his vintage pickup trucks, driving 700 miles for a rare World War I motorcycle, flying antique planes in rural California, and generally ducking out of Hollywood life.

The pictures also capture McQueen on the sets of his last two films, Tom Horn and The Hunter.

“It’s very strange when people say, ‘Oh, you were married to Steve McQueen?’” said Barbara McQueen. “He was such a normal guy and unlike most Hollywood stars that I often say, ‘I could have just as easily been married to a plumber or electrician.’”

For directions, visit http://nursingandhealthasu.edu/contact/nursing-buildings.htm. For parking information, visit http://nursingandhealth.asu.edu/contact/parking/htm. For more information, call Mirna Lattouf, series lecture organizer, at (602) 496-0638 or visit http://sls.asu.edu/news.html.

Pattie Boyd and Chris O' Dell appear at Arizona Gallery

2011-03-30T08:27:00.004+13:00

Vision Gallery presents: In the Deep Midwinter, by U.K. Photographers, April 1st – June 3rd, 2011. If you are looking for a place to cool off as the Arizona weather begins to heat up, come to Vision Gallery and experience the images of U. K. photographers Pattie Boyd, Colin Barker, Lesley Aggar and Will Christie. On a night in December of 2009, photographer Pattie Boyd looked out her window and saw, “…hoar frost---white ice crystals that had suddenly formed. I was so excited to see this phenomenon that occurs very rarely in the U.K. Rushing outside with my camera, I found that everywhere I looked seemed as if a magical wand had touched the garden and neighborhood into a startling white beauty. I had an idea that if I could get other photographers who had shot during that winter to show their work with mine, I might find a gallery in a place that never sees snow.” And the plan for Vision Gallery’s exhibition was born.

Among the images are Colin Barker’s shots of a huntsman and his hounds. “Garlands Blizzard, “… captures the hounds following a scent during a very heavy blizzard. The Huntsman in the distance became so cold that day, he is shown walking rather than mounted, in order to try and keep warm. Having heard the hounds, I had just forded a river and pushed through the thick woods, so arriving just in time to capture this scene.”

Boyd will be signing copies of her memoir, Wonderful Tonight, and former Apple secretary, author of Miss O' Dell, will also be in attendance.

The exhibit runs from April 1st - June 3rd, 2011. Admission is free.

Where: Vision Gallery, 10 East Chicago Street, Chandler
What & When: In the Deep Midwinter, by U.K. Photographers
Artist Reception, 7 – 9 P.M., Friday, April 1st, 2011

Hours: Monday through Friday, 10:00 AM – 5:00 PM
Saturdays, Noon – 4:00 PM

Information: Call 480-782-2695

'King of Cool' lecture at ASU

2011-03-26T08:26:00.004+13:00

Steve McQueen: A Tribute to the King of Cool
ASU College of Nursing and Health Innovation
550 N. Third St. Phoenix, AZ, 85004
PHONE: 602-496-0638
April 7, 2011
Thursday, 6:30 PM

ON THE WEB: http://asunews.asu.edu/20110315_kingofcool

PRICE: Free

Synopsis:
Barbara McQueen, widow of Steve McQueen, and Marshall Terrill, author of the biography, Steve McQueen: The Life and Legend of a Hollywood Icon, discuss and answer questions about the late star known as "the king of cool." Copies of Terrill's biography and the 2007 photo book, Steve McQueen: The Last Mile by Barbara McQueen and Terrill are signed. The fourth event in ASU's spring 2011 Humanities Lecture Series.

Categories:
Book Event, Book Lecture/Discussion, Book Signing/Reading, Event

Features:
Free and open to the public

Barbara McQueen provides backup for K-9 Unit

2011-03-26T08:18:00.003+13:00

'Kickstands Up for K-9s' set for April 9

The Arizona Republic

American Legion Post 35, 2240 W. Chandler Blvd., is hosting its second annual "Kickstands Up for K-9s" motorcycle ride to benefit the Chandler Police Department's canine unit, which has six Belgian Malinois. This year's ride has a special guest, Barbara McQueen, the widow of "King of Cool" actor Steve McQueen. She will be on hand at 2 p.m. April 9 to sign books about her late husband.

WHAT ELSE IS HAPPENING AT THE EVENT?
In addition to the motorcycle ride, which takes place from 9:30 a.m. to 2 p.m., the American Legion fundraiser includes music, food, a beer garden, door prizes and a canine demonstration by the Chandler Police Department canine unit.

WHO IS STEVE MCQUEEN?
McQueen starred in movies such as "The Great Escape," "Bullitt" and "The Thomas Crown Affair." Considered a rebel, he rode motorcycles and smoked incessantly. He died at age 50 in 1980 of lung cancer.

WHAT ARE THE BOOKS ABOUT MCQUEEN?
Barbara McQueen, who married her husband late in his life, is appearing with McQueen biographer Marshall Terrill, who wrote the biography, "Steve McQueen: The Life and Legend of a Hollywood Icon." Barbara had a photo book published in 2006 called "Steve McQueen: The Last Mile." The cover shows the couple on a motorcycle.

HOW MUCH IS THE RIDE AND WHERE DO I REGISTER?
The charity ride costs $25 per bike and $10 per passenger. Pre-registration and information can be found by calling the American Legion Post at 480-821-0002 or at www.kickstandsupfork9s.com. Registration begins at 8:30 a.m. April 9. The price includes lunch and a ride pin.

Read more: http://www.azcentral.com/community/chandler/articles/2011/03/25/20110325chandler-cop-dogs0325.html?source=nletter-news#ixzz1Hdm7le1G

McQueen's widow to host ASU lecture on 'King of Cool'

2011-03-05T11:03:00.005+13:00

Steve McQueen’s widow and his biographer are coming to ASU’s Downtown Phoenix campus to discuss and celebrate the life of the ‘King of Cool’ as part of a popular lecture series.

Barbara McQueen and author Marshall Terrill will appear at 6:30 p.m. on Thursday, April 7, 2011, at ASU’s College of Nursing and Health Innovation Building Two, 550 N. Third St., Phoenix, Innovation Auditorium, Room 110. The two will co-present, “Steve McQueen: A Tribute to the King of Cool,” answer questions, and sign copies of Terrill’s new biography Steve McQueen: The Life and Legend of a Hollywood Icon and McQueen’s 2007 photo book Steve McQueen: The Last Mile.

The spring 2011 Humanities Lecture series is sponsored by ASU’s School of Letters and Sciences and University College. The event is free and open to the public.
“What does Steve McQueen have to do with the humanities?” asks Terrill, who has written four books on the cinematic icon. “In breaking down McQueen’s life, one can learn about history, human behavior, psychology, triumph and tragedy, and several invaluable life lessons.”

McQueen, known for his ultra cool and nonconformist movie persona, started out life in rural Indiana. Born to a young, alcoholic mother and abandoned by his father, McQueen was left in the care of his grandparents and other relatives when he was a toddler. Reunited with his mother at age eight, he was introduced to a series of strange men and her violent boyfriends. Compounding McQueen’s problems were his partial deafness from a childhood ear infection and his dyslexia, making adjustment to his new life and schooling particularly challenging.

The teen-aged McQueen frequently got into trouble and soon found himself remanded to Boys Republic, a home for troubled teenage boys in Chino, California. Following that, he joined the U.S. Marines for a three-year stint and afterward used the G.I. bill to study acting in New York in the early 1950s. There, his rebellious angst and good looks helped him become a fixture of the emerging Method theater scene, competing with the likes of James Dean and Paul Newman, with television and movie success just around the corner. Terrill will provide a narrative spanning McQueen’s spectacular career, his greatest films (The Magnificent Seven, The Great Escape, The Sand Pebbles, The Thomas Crown Affair, Bullitt, The Getaway, Papillon and The Towering Inferno), his personal flaws and defeats, and his hard-fought battle with terminal cancer at a controversial clinic in Mexico.

Widow Barbara McQueen will present a more human side to her husband in rare photos she took from 1977 to 1980. They record a behind-the-scenes look at personal pleasures enjoyed near the end of the actor’s life: hitting the road in his vintage pickup trucks, driving 700 miles for a rare World War I motorcycle, flying antique planes in rural California, and generally ducking out of Hollywood life. The pictures also capture McQueen on the sets of his last two films, Tom Horn and The Hunter.

“It’s very strange when people say, ‘Oh, you were married to Steve McQueen?’” said Barbara McQueen. “He was such a normal guy and unlike most Hollywood stars that I often say, ‘I could have just as easily been married to a plumber or electrician.’”
Author Marshall Terrill is a film, sports and music writer and the author of more than a dozen books, including best-selling biographies of Steve McQueen, Elvis Presley and basketball legend “Pistol” Pete Maravich. Three of his books are in development to be made into movies, including an upcoming McQueen biopic for Black Swan producer Brian Oliver.

Barbara Minty McQueen is the widow of the famous actor and met McQueen in 1977. They remained married until his Nov. 7, 1980, death. She resides in Ketchum, Idaho.

Barbara McQueen remembers the sweet life

2011-02-19T05:54:00.004+13:00

Barbara McQueen will appear at 6 p.m. Feb. 23 at Melvyn's Restaurant in Palm Springs to discuss her life with the 'King of Cool.' For more information, visit www.inglesideinn.com.

Throughout the month of February, Barbara McQueen has been quietly reflecting on her blissful years with the "King of Cool," one Steve McQueen. The determined actor lost his valiant war with mesothelioma exactly thirty years ago in Juarez, Mexico.

Why does McQueen still resonate today? Well, besides being the epitome of the perfect American male, he brought a sense of realism to each character he inhabited. McQueen was a man of few words, and he let his actions speak for themselves.

He had a soft spot for the underdog and never forgot his hard-scrabble upbringing. He could be a friend in good and bad times, but if you took advantage of him, watch out. He was not interested in Hollywood glamour; instead, he preferred sitting around with gearheads or antique collectors.

Without question, these qualities are reasons why Barbara fell in love with McQueen. Kindred souls, the couple created their own perfect paradise in the quaint town of Santa Paula, California. Although their time together was tragically cut short, the memories remain.

Below, my interview with Barbara resumes, and it illuminates the wonderful aspects of their relationship. These anecdotes include McQueen's sense of peace brought on by his genuine faith, meeting Barbara's parents, popping the question, their rustic, down-home wedding, and married life.

If you missed any previous entries of this all-encompassing interview, you can easily find them here. In fact, the last segment spotlighted Barbara's memories concerning the making of The Hunter, her husband's final film. If not, then keep reading...

The Barbara McQueen Interview

What role did faith play in Steve’s life during your years with him?

Steve was always spiritual, but he matured in his faith in Santa Paula. He was heavily influenced by his flight instructor, Sammy Mason, who was a very strong Christian, and who accompanied us to church.

I put those into two different categories because I think you can be very spiritual without going to church. You can have all the beliefs as an every Sunday church-goer, and you can be just as spiritual as they are but in a different way.

Steve started going to church when we lived in Santa Paula. There was no bull**** about his faith, and he took it seriously. He had a meeting with evangelist Billy Graham near the end, who inscribed his personal Bible to Steve. In fact, the first person I called when Steve passed away was Billy Graham.

Steve wasn’t a horn blower, and he didn’t go around talking about it; it was his private thing. He was never in your face, but I caught him many times saying his prayers.

As for me, I don’t go to church...but I still say my prayers. I cuss like a sailor, but I tell God every night, “Hey, I’m sorry, but it just sounds better sometimes. It’s a better definition of what I’m mad about, so please forgive me.”

How did Steve ask your dad for his daughter’s hand in marriage?

That’s an interesting story when Steve met my parents for the first time. My mom knew who he was, but she wasn’t real star struck. My dad clearly didn’t give a s**t who he was.

We had a mini mountain out back that took about a minute to walk to the top; that’s where the talking place was if you were in trouble. So my dad took Steve on a little walking/talking trip up there, and they were there 45 minutes to maybe an hour.

I was my dad's little baby, and he was gonna make sure I was okay. He didn't want Steve, whom he considered much too old for me, to hurt me in any way. So they came down and Steve and Dad had a beer.

Steve whispered, “I told your dad that you'll be well taken care of.” I then asked my dad what he told Steve. He said, “I told the sonofabitch I'd kill him if he ever hurt you.” True story!

What do you remember about your wedding day? Was it fancy?

We were going to have a church wedding, then we found out the minister we had been so enthralled with wouldn’t marry us because Steve had been divorced. That threw me for a loop because I was younger, and I had never been married.

Steve wasn’t fond of the response, so we got somebody else at the church to do it, Rev. Leslie Miller. By that time, the press were in town and following me. I had no experience with the paparazzi, and it was all very new at the time.

I used to drive around Santa Paula in a funky old pickup truck, and they’d follow me. They scared me, and so I’d go to the police station, and they’d take me home. They were hovering like a bunch of bees when we got married in the living room.

The paparazzi are nothing like they are to these poor people today. I truly feel sorry for current young movie actors and actresses. It's horrible what the press does to them, but back then it was just a little here, a little there.

We had our friend Norman stand outside the gate of our home with our ranch foreman Grady Ragsdale ready in the backyard. They were both armed with shotguns and not afraid to use them. They wouldn’t kill anybody, but a good shot over the head pretty much scares anybody.

So we got married in the living room, and I paid the reverend off. He wouldn’t take money, so I went outside and got a dozen eggs out of the chicken coop and paid him in eggs. You could say we had a farm wedding (laughing).

It was small and sweet, nothing big, and it was my first marriage. I would have probably liked to have done something different, but hey, when you’re in love, you take what you can get.

How did Grady Ragsdale fit into the scheme of things?

Grady Ragsdale was a sweetheart, and he was always there. If it was 2:00 AM, and there was a fly on the wall Steve didn’t like, Grady would come over and fix the problem. That’s how wonderful Grady was.

I never would have made it through Steve’s cancer battle without Grady. He wrote a beautiful little book in 1983 called Steve McQueen: The Final Chapter, which is now out of print.

I read it, and every word in there is true. He had a heart attack and passed away in 1986. But his widow, Judy, and kids are still around.

So, what was it like being married to Steve McQueen?

I loved it, since that was one of the best times of my entire life. It was a very sweet time. I loved the ranch and the farmhouse we shared. He gave me full reign of redoing our little house. It was the most beautiful 1920s Victorian farmhouse. Everything came from second-hand stores except for the TVs and beds.

It was every little girl’s dream. Steve was so sweet to me because he didn’t like me working. I worked a little bit here and there until I finally said, “Hey, I’ve got to make a living. I’ve got bills to pay.”

From that day forward I never had another bill to pay. Steve, however, did have a grocery list on the counter, expecting me to cook. I don't cook, and he wisely hired a little old lady to cook for us.

Every time we got into a fight, he would bring a kitten home. When he passed away, I had thirteen cats that I drug up to Idaho with me. Altogether, we had thirteen fights the whole time we were together. That's not bad considering we were together for three-and-a-half years.

Continue reading on Examiner.com: When You're In Love With The King of Cool: Sweet Memories With Barbara McQueen - National Steve McQueen | Examiner.com http://www.examiner.com/steve-mcqueen-in-national/when-you-re-love-with-the-king-of-cool-sweet-memories-with-barbara-mcqueen#ixzz1EKXa7Orh

Steve McQueen's heart

2011-02-18T08:28:00.004+13:00

Barbara Minty McQueen will appear at Melvyn's Restaurant in Palm Springs on Feb. 23, 2011 to sign copies of her book, Steve McQueen: The Last Mile. For more information, visit www.inglesideinn.com.

Steve McQueen's Heart
Barbara Minty McQueen was there. Indeed, she met her future husband, the ‘King of Cool,” in July 1977 after she received a phone call from Nina Blanchard, her modeling agent in Los Angeles.

Blanchard told Minty that Steve McQueen had spotted her in a Club Med advertisement while he was on an airplane. McQueen wanted her to audition for the role of an Indian princess in his next project, Tom Horn. Apparently, this was a ruse, as the final cut of the film contains no Indian princess.

That initial meeting led to a whirlwind relationship and her ultimate marriage to McQueen in 1980. Barbara maintained an active role in her husband’s life, whether flying airplanes, going to swap meets, taking long driving adventures, being on film locations, or providing care during McQueen’s mesothelioma battle.

For posterity, Barbara had the wits to document their life together and capture many rare behind-the-scenes images of Tom Horn and The Hunter. Barbara’s tribute to her husband, entitled Steve McQueen: The Last Mile, is a brilliant, engrossing coffee-table pictorial book containing hundreds of full-page color and black and white images.

McQueen and author Marshall Terrill, who cowrote Last Mile, will join forces on Wednesday, February 23rd, at Melvyn's Restaurant at the Ingleside Inn in Palm Springs, California.

The authors will appear at 6 p.m. to discuss the icon's life, answer questions from the audience, and sign their books, including Terrill's latest project, the critically-acclaimed Steve McQueen: The Life and Legacy of a Hollywood Icon.

Legend is a 600-page work that paints a complete, mesmerizing portrait of McQueen’s career, on and off the silver screen. Terrill has spent his life investigating McQueen, and his efforts show on every single page of this definitive biography.

He has also written or collaborated on projects ranging from Elvis Presley to sports figures including basketball legend ‘Pistol’ Pete Maravich.

To RSVP and find out more information on the event, please call (760) 325-0046 or visit www.inglesideinn.com. For folks who are unable to attend, a treat is in store below.

Barbara graciously agreed to reflect on her years with the iconic actor, and if you missed it, yesterday’s conversation revolved around the making of Tom Horn. Today, the talk jumps forward to The Hunter, McQueen’s final movie.

The Hunter was no blockbuster at the box office ($37 million) when released in late July 1980, although it performed considerably better than Tom Horn, eventually becoming a solid earner when released on video and television. McQueen was battling mesothelioma and was in no condition to attend the film’s premiere or conduct any publicity.

The film is no Bullitt, although it contains an exhilarating car/combine chase through a corn field. It is more modest in scope, but most importantly, McQueen wanted to do the film.

He had rejected film after film after the unbelievable success of the disaster epic The Towering Inferno in 1974, and those rejects include such classics as The Driver, Apocalypse Now, Close Encounters of The Third Kind, and The Bodyguard.

As The Hunter, it is revealing to view the late actor in a role that acknowledges his actual age. The character of bounty hunter Ralph “Papa” Thorson does things his way, even though he realizes that he is becoming a relic of a bygone era.

It is also an ironic, simple twist of fate that McQueen’s final role was a bounty hunter. At the very beginning of his career, McQueen played Josh Randall, a deadly, often hot-headed bounty hunter who carried a sawed-off Mare’s Leg rifle on Wanted: Dead or Alive, the classic western series (1958–1961) that made him a star.

Without any further ado, here is my conversation with Barbara McQueen, as she discusses life on the set of McQueen’s final film, The Hunter.

The Barbara McQueen Interview

What are your memories of being on the set of The Hunter, Steve’s final film?

The Hunter was not as much fun; it was more of a “city” movie. I don't know where or why the thought came over me, but I had the distinct feeling that this was going to be Steve's last picture.

On the other hand, it was really fun learning about explosives and stunts. As for the cast, I did get to know LeVar Burton pretty well, and Eli Wallach was a good guy, too.

It was clear that LeVar was in awe of Steve and did nothing to hide his admiration. Privately, Steve deeply cared for LeVar and took on a fatherly role at times. Steve loved him in Roots and lobbied to get him the part in the movie.

Steve was determined to play the real life modern-day bounty hunter who apprehended more than 5,000 criminals and bail jumpers. To soften the bounty hunter’s rough edges, Steve incorporated several cool habits and attributes that mirrored his own personality.

For example, he collected antique toys, drove an old Chevy convertible (rather badly I might add), and was even involved with a beautiful brunette almost half his age – wonder where that idea came from?

Were you guys really in the Chicago ghetto?

Absolutely, and I’d never been exposed to the real slums before that experience. It was interesting. I knew Steve always had my back, so I didn’t have to worry about anything bad. They had us downtown in a nice little hotel, and this is where the goodness of Steve’s heart came out.

Steve realized the crew was staying in a stinky, old, horrible Holiday Inn. So, of course we had to move there and endure those conditions.

I completely understood where he was coming from, though. Steve always viewed the crew as part of his family. He worked when they worked, ate when they ate, and slept when they slept.

The production later traveled to the agricultural heartland…

After The Hunter finished shooting sequences in Chicago, we headed southwest to the Kankakee River Valley where the movie was slated for more production. Our hotel was located next door to a meat packing factory. Frankly, it stunk.

However, Steve did befriend a wonderful couple, who lent the studio their farm for a scene. This couple took a real liking to Steve, and the nice lady would make little treats for him.

In return, Steve liked spending time with the family, which was a recurring theme in his life. Right before we left she gave us a book called The Farm Journal, which was a guide on how to survive on a farm. They must have thought we needed it.

What’s the story behind Karen Wilson, the teenager you both adopted?

Chicago’s a great town, and that’s where we found Karen Wilson, our little “insta-kid.” One scene required lots of extras, but for some reason, this feisty young girl caught Steve’s eye. He questioned her, asking “Why aren’t you in school?”

Her reply floored him. “Because I need to make extra money,” she said. She had been watching over a seven-year-old neighbor named “Bobo.” It turned out that Karen’s birthday was the same as mine, which Steve took as some sort of sign.

We visited Karen’s mother in the ghetto, where we found her and her entire family living in squalor. Steve wasted no time telling Karen's mother, “We’d like to take Karen back with us to California and put her in a good school, so that she has a chance to get out of here.”

After several weeks of going back and forth, her mother came to the decision that it was best for Karen to leave with us. Once The Hunter wrapped, we enrolled her in a private boarding school near our Santa Paula home.

On weekends we would bring Karen home so she could have some sense of normalcy. Almost a year after we became her legal guardians, Karen’s mother passed away.

When Steve died, I personally saw to it that she graduated high school. To make a long story short, Karen is now a happily married mother of four kids and works for an L.A.-based escrow company.

During the making of The Hunter, Steve’s generosity rose to the forefront. Can you recall some specific examples?

One time Steve saw some local kids throwing a football stuffed with rags. He dispatched [stuntman] Loren Janes to a sporting goods store. Before you could blink, hundreds of baseballs, footballs, mitts, and bats were left in a large recreational field.

Although he had practically stopped giving autographs a decade before, Steve freely handed out several thousand signed 8 x 10 glossies. When Steve discovered that a local Catholic church was in need, he wrote a check covering all expenses.

Before he handed over the check, he stopped by to see the film’s producer, Mort Engleberg, and said, “Mort, this is what I’m giving to the church. I’d like you to match it.”

No one knew he performed all of these great deeds, but he did. By the way, Mort immediately said yes and wrote a check on the spot. How could he say no to Steve McQueen?

**More of my interview with Barbara McQueen will appear by the end of this week...

Please visit Twitter @jeremylr to learn when future pop culture articles shall appear.

© Jeremy L. Roberts / All rights reserved

Continue reading on Examiner.com: The Goodness of Steve McQueen's Heart: Memories of His Final Film, "The Hunter" - National Steve McQueen | Examiner.com http://www.examiner.com/steve-mcqueen-in-national/the-goodness-of-steve-mcqueen-s-heart-memories-of-his-final-film-the-hunter#ixzz1EFJN4K8f

Barbara McQueen Examiner.com interview

2011-02-17T13:27:00.003+13:00

Tom Horn was actor Steve McQueen's penultimate film, and it was perhaps the project closest to his heart. Based on the life of the famed Wild West detective/assassin, McQueen recorded extensive notes on a tape recorder over a nearly three-year period.

The actor even went so far as to camp out one night at the gunfighter's grave in Boulder, Colorado, claiming Horn's ghost visited with him. Fortunately, McQueen's efforts paid off (he was also executive producer), as many fans consider the role to be among his best, including his good friend and fellow actor, the late James Coburn.

With a good supporting cast, including a pre-Dynasty Linda Evans, and noted character actors Richard Farnsworth, Slim Pickens, and Geoffrey Lewis, the film was still not a box office hit when released in March 1980.

Why was this? Largely, because Tom Horn came at a time when the western was virtually dead. Nineteen seventy-six was the last year when a significant continual stream of westerns hit the big screen, including John Wayne's The Shootist and Clint Eastwood's The Outlaw Josey Wales.

McQueen also didn't have the opportunity to promote the film as much as he might have liked to, as his cancer diagnosis came a few months before the film's release. Fortunately for us, Barbara McQueen is alive and well, and she was on location with her husband throughout the filming.

As part of an ongoing interview series (go here for the previous installment), what follows below are Ms. McQueen's always-entertaining recollections of life on a western movie shoot. So sit back, because the fun starts right now...

The Barbara McQueen Interview

Tom Horn was your first film shoot with Steve. How do you remember that experience?

I’ve never sat down and watched Tom Horn. But I was there, and the film was just the best adventure and my absolute favorite experience. But god, it was cold.

Being part of a movie set was every little girl’s dream, at least for me, since I grew up on a dairy farm in Oregon. I’ll always be a cowgirl, and I tended to lose myself in that western setting.

When the film company was shooting on location in southern Arizona, we had the option of staying in an upscale hotel in Tucson, but we decided to take a motor home and live there on the set.

Steve parked it out in the middle of nowhere, close to the set, and early every morning he and his good friend Pat Johnson would jog. I loved that experience.

Staying Near The Mexican Border, With a Colt .45…

We changed location about three times, and on one such occasion we were less than one mile from the Mexican border. Remember, this was in 1979 before there were serious border issues between the two countries. Steve would go in the daytime to the set, which was a couple miles away, and he’d leave me all alone.

He thought I was a nutcase since I’d dress the part of a cowgirl, putting on little petticoats, cowboy boots, the whole works. I was really diggin’ it, as there wasn’t a soul around. I could get on my little horse and ride, or I could just walk around and be in my own world.

When the crew was shooting in another area, the entire western town was virtually empty except for a few wranglers and set builders. I often seized the moment and loved riding my horse on the sidewalks, since all the buildings were facades. Even in my mid-twenties, I imagined being on horseback in the late 1800s. Such a blast.

One day before heading out on location, Steve walked over to me and put a holster and Colt .45 on my belt. He said, “If you’re gonna stay here, this will be on you at all times. The border has a lot of traffic and nobody’s gonna hurt you, but just in case, I want you to be prepared.”

He taught me how to use the pistol really well. I had a field gun permit, but it didn’t matter down there. I saw several guys crossing the border and I’d just wave at them. My thinking was, Hey, you do what you do, and I do what I do; you stay there, and I stay away.

Would Steve often go over the script with you?

I remember sitting in the trailer at night and Steve would throw a script at me. He’d say, “Here, read the other part,” and when he read his part, I’d laugh at him. I’d answer, “Good god, you’re horrible.” Steve often retorted, “Shut up and just read it please!”

Now I understand Steve was memorizing the lines. He wasn’t putting any emotion into it. He was dyslexic, so he didn’t read very well, and he went over and over that script. We laughed and giggled, I teased him, and it was just a good, fun time for us.

So, how did your dad become a shotgun-carrying extra?

My father (Gene) and mother (Wilma) visited the set one day and Steve said to them, “Would you like to dress up and be extras? It won’t be a problem at all.” My dad said immediately, “Oh yeah, that sounds like a good idea.”

Mom wasn’t too crazy about that proposition, but my dad was a huge western freak. So Dad became a general extra for a few days. Not long after the casting director had to pick five or six extras to play the jailers who were behind Steve during the final hanging scene.

The only stipulation was the extras had to have the meanest, grumpiest face you could imagine. Well, darned if they didn’t pick my dad. He went up to Steve and thanked him, but Steve said, “Thank you for what?”

My dad explained that he would get to stay an extra two weeks and play a little part in the movie. Steve said, “Mr. Minty, I had nothing to do with it; that’s all your doing.”

As it turned out, the only reason they picked my dad was because he looked mean as hell. While my dad was a pussycat to me, because I was his little girl, he wasn't a man you wanted to cross.

My dad didn’t have any lines, but he got to walk with a shotgun behind Steve to the gallows. I don’t think Steve was too nervous. My dad probably just loved that, and that became a joke around the set. I’m glad my dad got to do it because he got a kick out of playing dress up.

Did you become friends with any of Steve’s co-stars, such as the beloved cowboy actors Richard Farnsworth or Slim Pickens?

I loved Richard Farnsworth, and I kept in touch with him after Tom Horn. I played polo for many years after Steve passed away, and Farnsworth was always around the field in L.A. He’d make a point or I would to go say hello to each other.

He was the most wonderful, gentle soul; Farnsworth was exactly the man you saw on the screen. If there was ever a real thing in the world, he was the real thing. The epitome of a man’s man, he was something else.

Slim Pickens and Dirty Jokes

Slim Pickens was funny, nice, and just an all-around good guy. He was exactly what you would have wanted him to be. I don’t know any of his earlier movies, but I remember him riding on that bomb in Peter Sellers’ comedy classic, Dr. Strangelove.

Between shots and setting up, the actors would all go to this one little house. They’d sit down, and Slim would go off on these tangents of filthy, dirty jokes. For two days I sneaked in there, as nobody knew I was hiding behind one of the walls.

On the third day, all of a sudden I heard, “Barbi, get out here!” I went, “Oh god, I’m busted,” and I quickly walked out. My dad was looking at me very sternly, shaking his head, and he said, “You know better than that.” Unfortunately, that was the last time I got to do that.

Thirty years later, how does Tom Horn stack up?

Tom Horn could have been a great film, but the studio wouldn’t give them enough money. It’s too bad the film didn’t go further, but once again, I don’t know the business.

Regardless, from what I heard about Steve during the shoot, he could be difficult. That was his baby, and he wanted it his way.

See Barbara McQueen and biographer Marshall Terrill at 6 p.m. on Wednesday, Feb. 23, 2011 at the Ingleside Inn in Palm Springs. The two will make a presentation, answer questions and sign copies of Terrill's new biography Steve McQueen: The Life and Legend of a Hollywood Icon and McQueen's 2006 photo book Steve McQueen: The Last Mile.

To RSVP for this special event and book signing, call 760-325-0046 or visit www.inglesideinn.com.

Steve McQueen's widow celebrates the life of the 'King of Cool'

2011-02-16T07:23:00.005+13:00

Steve McQueen’s widow and his biographer are coming to Palm Springs in February to promote a blockbuster new book about the superstar, and to celebrate the life of the ‘King of Cool’.

Barbara McQueen and author Marshall Terrill will appear 6 p.m. Wednesday, Feb. 23, 2011, at Melvyn’s Restaurant at the Ingleside Inn, 200 W. Ramon Road, Palm Springs. The two will make a presentation, answer questions and sign copies of Terrill’s new biography Steve McQueen: The Life and Legend of a Hollywood Icon and McQueen’s 2006 photo book Steve McQueen: The Last Mile.

“For years I’ve been hearing about the magic of Melvyn’s Restaurant and the Ingleside Inn,” said McQueen, who will kick off the inn’s 2011 Speaker Series. “I’m happy to share my stories about Steve while spending quality time in the desert.”
For decades, Steve McQueen has captured our hearts and imaginations. Now, the star’s preeminent biographer reveals the true life of the man in his 624-page epic book. Featuring hundreds of interviews and exhaustive research, Terrill reveals new details about the star’s life from his harrowing and painful childhood, throughout his incredible career, to his courageous final days. Scrupulously researched and beautifully written, Steve McQueen: The Life and Legend of a Hollywood Icon is an indispensible resource of a beloved star.

Author Marshall Terrill is a film, sports and music writer and the author of more than a dozen books, including best-selling biographies of Steve McQueen, Elvis Presley and Pete Maravich. He is also the co-author of Palm Springs a la Carte with Mel Haber. Three of his books are in development to be made into movies.

Barbara Minty McQueen is the widow of the famous actor and met McQueen in 1977. They remained married until his Nov. 7, 1980 death. She resides in Ketchum, Idaho.

Tickets are $65, which includes a three-course dinner as well as tax and tip. Reservations are required. To RSVP, call (760) 325-0046 or visit www.inglesideinn.com.

Chicken Soup for the Soul

2009-11-15T11:34:00.002+13:00

Chicken Soup for the Soul: The Story Behind The Song

Christina Aguilera, Melissa Etheridge, Lamont Dozier, Paul Anka, Kanye West, Richie Sambora & other top songwriters tell entertainment veteran Jo-Ann Geffen their inspiration and techniques.

Musicians love to say that every song tells a story, but they are usually tight-lipped about the story behind the song. Was it really scribbled on a napkin? What love interest was the real inspiration? If we knew the real story behind our favorite songs, would we ever listen to them the same way again?

Chicken Soup for the Soul® has partnered with veteran Hollywood publicist, talent manager and celebrity booker Jo-Ann Geffen for the first all celebrity book from the top selling brand. Geffen peels back the curtain on 101 songs, songwriters and artists with the upcoming release of Chicken Soup for the Soul: The Story Behind the Song (Chicken Soup for the Soul, LLC, November 10, 2009, 978-1-935096-40-5, $14.95). Jo-Ann Geffen is credited as editor along with Chicken Soup for the Soul co-founders Jack Canfield and Mark Victor Hansen. The foreword is by Lamont Dozier, who is credited as an architect of the Motown sound.

The book reflects on many of our favorite songs that trace our lives through music from rap trendsetter Kanye West to Top 40 hit-makers Richie Sambora, Christina Aguilera, Melissa Etheridge, John Legend, the Backstreet Boys’ Howie Dorough, and Jewel, classic rock performer/songwriters like Chicago’s Robert Lamm, and Foreigner’s Mick Jones, Daryl Hall and John Oates, alternative rockers Aaron Lewis of Staind to Corey Taylor of Slipknot and legendary punk rock hits such as Joan Jett’s “Bad Reputation” and Jerry Cantrell from Alice In Chains reflecting on his father’s tour in Vietnam and its aftermath in “Rooster, pop classics like those of Barry Manilow, Hal David, Diane Warren and Paul Anka who re-tells his history with Frank Sinatra and the Rat Pack, R&B songmasters such as Nathan Morris for the Boyz II Men/Mariah Carey hit “One Sweet Day”, Walter Orange of the Commodores, Smokey Robinson, Earth Wind and Fire’s Philip Bailey, and country hits from Tracy Lawrence, .Ray Stevens, Pam Tillis.

Some bring laughter, others bring tears, but all are insightful and great reading for music fans, aficionados or people who just like a good story. Each of the tales is accompanied by a photo and the lyrics for the song that is discussed.

Chicken Soup for the Soul Publishing, LLC, publishes all the latest titles in the famous Chicken Soup for the Soul book series which are distributed through Simon and Schuster, Inc. Since 1993, books in the Chicken Soup for the Soul series have sold more than 112 million copies, with titles translated into more than 40 languages. Chicken Soup for the Soul Publishing also licenses the right to use its famous trademark to high quality licensees through IMG, the world's premier licensing agent. The company is currently implementing a plan to expand into all media, is working with TV networks on several TV shows and is developing a major Internet presence dedicated to life improvement, emotional support and inspiration. In 2007, USA Today named Chicken Soup for the Soul one of the five most memorable and impactful books in the last quarter century. For more information visit: www.chickensoup.com.

To receive a review copy of Chicken Soup for the Soul: The Story Behind the Song, or to schedule an interview, please contact Rusty Shelton (512) 478-2028 ext.220 or rshelton@phenixpublicity.com.

Of Kings, Queens and Movie Stars

2009-11-15T11:30:00.002+13:00

Of Kings, Queens and Movie Stars

“This is showbiz from the very intimate inside. How inside? Leonard was literally the third person on Cary Grant's honeymoon with Dyan Cannon...and writes all about it! Forty years in the film publicity trenches. You'll read all about life in the movies in the more glorious and glamorous 70s, 80s, and 90s... Steve McQueen, Peter Sellers, Warren Beatty, Barbra Streisand and on and on and on. A thousand times more interesting and sophisticated than today's gossip mongers. Morpurgo was right in there organizing, advising, encouraging and taking the heat for the cream of the movie crop as well as the heads of state from around the world. You love movies?... Don't miss Of Kings and Queens and Movie Stars.”

Sid Ganis, Producer and President of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.

“This is a fun and fantastic reading experience. Leonard Morpurgo has worked with the famous, and his frank and entertaining stories about them are eye-openers. It’s an insider’s look at Hollywood egos, past and present.”

Henri Bollinger, founder, president of the Entertainment Publicists Professional Society and past president of the Publicists Guild of America.

“A truly gifted bard, Leonard Morpurgo proves once again that truth is indeed stranger than fiction --- even in Hollywood. Wonderfully entertaining and great reading.”

David A. Weitzner, Director, Summer Program, School of Cinematic Arts, University of Southern California

"An amusing and informative collection of stories about the author's adventures in the PR trade, told with an engagingly wry and self-deprecating good humor."

Michael York

"If you want to know what it is like to be a publicity pro from the days of Cary Grant to George Clooney this is a great read. It is interesting, funny and enlightening."

Robert J. Dowling, former editor-in-chief and publisher of The Hollywood Reporter.

“A longtime international film publicist, Morpurgo dishes celebs ranging from Cary Grant to the Duke of Windsor, at the same time skewering the decision-makers at the studios who—more often than most PR types will admit—are wayward or wacky in their calls.

“Never heavy-handed or tacky, Morpurgo provides a reminder of just how fractured the personalities he had to cater to were (and are). His word for them is ‘guarded,’ but often he managed to get behind the veil of one or another.

“The book has texture, and it made me realize how far we’ve come, or receded, since the heady, spendthrift days of the 1970s and ‘80s.”

Elizabeth Guider, current editor of The Hollywood Reporter.

Melvyn's owner spills beans in new book

2009-02-24T19:27:00.003+13:00

Melvyn's owner spills beans in new book

Judith Salkin • The Desert Sun • February 22, 2009

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“Raconteur” is a good way to describe Mel Haber, owner of Melvyn's at the Ingleside Inn in Palm Springs for more than 30 years.

Haber has recorded his memories, with co-writer Marshall Terrill, in “Palm Springs á la Carte: The Colorful World of the Caviar Crowd at Their Favorite Desert Hideaway.”

The book, published this month, is available at the Ingleside Inn. On Thursday, Haber is hosting a book-signing dinner followed by a Q&A at Melvyn's.

The first couple of chapters are devoted his early life in New York, before the Ingleside Inn changed his world.

The rest of the book focuses on Haber's singular ambition of returning the Ingleside Inn to its former glory, and in turn, a success for himself.

Haber admits that he's made “every mistake in the book” when it came to running the famous resort.

In the end, he also says, “If I can make it, anyone can.”

The book is full of anecdotes, like how he turned a scruffy Steve McQueen and Ali McGraw away when they pulled up for the grand opening on a motorcycle.

Or the story of Sir John, the ultimate con artist who ran his ponzi scheme on the Coachella Valley's elite from the Inn.

Haber talks about meeting stars such as John Travolta, Arnold Schwarzenegger and Frank Sinatra, who he calls “Mr. S.”

But not all the memories are good. Haber recalls the still-unsolved murder of his son, Lonny, in 1981.

“It's a pain that never dulls or goes away,” Haber says in the book.

What: Dinner and booksigning with Mel Haber

When: 6 p.m. Thursday, February 26

Where: Melvyn's 200 W. Ramon Road, Palm Springs

Information: www.inglesideinn.com

Dinner and book signing with Mel Haber

2009-02-17T17:07:00.004+13:00

Looking for something fun and interesting to do in Palm Springs? Why not have dinner with a legend?

Mel Haber, the owner and proprietor of Melvyn's Restaurant and The Ingleside Inn, is hosting a special dinner and book signing next week to promote the publication of his new memoir, Palm Springs a la Carte.

The two-hour event starts at 6 p.m. on Thursday, Feb. 26 at Melvyns, 200 W. Ramon Road, Palm Springs. Haber, along with co-author Marshall Terrill, who has authored a dozen books and best-selling biographies on Steve McQueen, Elvis Presley and “Pistol” Pete Maravich. The two will discuss Haber's autobiography during a special three-course meal followed by a special question and answer session period. Autographed copies of the book available for purchase. Reservations for the $45 dinner (includes tax and tip) must be pre-paid.

Palm Springs a la Carte: The Colorful World of the Caviar Crowd at Their Favorite Desert Hideaway (Barricade Books, 2009) is a charming, often hilarious book describing the adventures of the novice restauranteur and hotelier, Melvyn Haber, an automotive accessory manufacturer from the bowels of New York City who is a legend in the sugar-frosted society of Palm Springs.

Haber admits he made every mistake in the book, which didn't preclude him from running one of the most successful restaurant's and hotels of all time. His two establishments have attracted a guest list that reads like a Who's Who of the world. Visitors have included Frank Sinatra, Bob Hope, Marlon Brando, Liberace, Liza Minnelli, President Gerald Ford, Lucille Ball, Dinah Shore, Rita Hayworth, Jerry Lewis and June Allyson.

Haber restored the historic inn and grounds, and built his own restaurant, Melvyn's. He learned the business the hard way and lived through a comedy of errors that would have bankrupted most investors in today's ultra-competitive hotel and restaurant markets. He managed not only to survive, but flourish, and became an example of the American dream in its fullest flower.

What: Dinner with Mel Haber

When: Thursday, Feb. 26, 6 to 8 p.m.

Where: Melvyn's Restaurant, 200 W. Ramon Road, Palm Springs

Information: (760) 325-0046 or visit http://www.inglesideinn.com

The Last Mile makes final stop in Chandler

2009-02-17T16:40:00.004+13:00

PRESS RELEASE:

FOR MORE INFORMATION CONTACT:
Diane Howell or Candee Lewis – 480.917.6859

Steve McQueen: The Last Mile, an exhibition of photographs taken by Barbara McQueen, will make its final stop in Chandler, Arizona next month.

The exhibition will be on display March 6-April 11, 2009 at the Chandler Center for the Arts, 250 N. Arizona Ave., Chandler, Arizona. An opening reception for Barbara McQueen will take place on March 6 from 7 to 9 p.m. McQueen will be present along with special guest, Jeb Rosebrook, who wrote the screenplay for Junior Bonner, which was a 1972 McQueen movie filmed in Prescott, Arizona.

“It’s the last stop for The Last Mile,” said Barbara McQueen, the actor’s widow. “The last two years have been a constant whirlwind of activity and I’m ready to return to a quieter lifestyle.” Since May 2007, McQueen has traveled with the exhibit to London, San Francisco, Carmel-By-The Sea, Ketchum, Idaho, Slater, Missouri, and Nashville, Tennessee.

Barbara McQueen’s photographs record a behind-the-scenes look at personal pleasures enjoyed near the end of the actor’s life: hitting the road in his vintage pick up trucks, driving 700 miles for a rare World War I motorcycle, flying antique planes in rural California and generally ducking out of Hollywood life. The pictures also capture McQueen on the sets of his last two films, Tom Horn and The Hunter.

The hundreds of photos taken by Barbara McQueen have been collected in a book, also titled Steve McQueen: The Last Mile, which was co-authored with Valley resident Marshall Terrill. The Chandler exhibit will include approximately 30 photographs from that collection, taken from the time the couple met in 1977 through the end of McQueen’s life in 1980, the same year they married.

Admission is free to this intimate portrayal of McQueen’s life. Gallery hours are 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Mondays through Fridays and noon to 4 p.m. on Saturdays. For more information, call (480) 917.6859 or visit www.chandlercenter.org.

Where: Chandler Center for the Arts, 250 N. Arizona Ave., Chandler, Ariz.

What: Steve McQueen: The Last Mile, an exhibition of photographs by Barbara McQueen

When: March 6 - April 11, 2009, Opening Reception March 6, 7-9 p.m.

Hours: Mondays through Fridays, 10 a.m.-5 p.m
Saturdays, noon-4 p.m.

McQueen tribute book set for fall release

2009-02-15T05:51:00.002+13:00

Steve McQueen: A Tribute to the King of Cool

Marshall Terrill’s long-awaited tribute to the small-town rebel who continues to keep so many millions spellbound is coming to bookstores for the holiday season.

Steve McQueen: A Tribute to the King of Cool (Dalton Watson Fine Books), tells the actor’s story in chronological order through the eyes of those who knew him best: family, friends, co-stars, business associates, acquaintances and adoring fans from around the globe. Written in passage form, each person brings a different view to the man and legend, presenting him in an unsurpassed 360-degree perspective.

“It’s very unique in its presentation because it reads like a biography, but it’s really a photo and tribute book,” Terrill said, who spent nearly three years compiling the information. “There’s really nothing else on the market quite like it. I know it will please McQueen fans.”

Accompanying the 200 passages are hundreds of photos taken of McQueen throughout his life and movie career, many seen here for the first time as well as personal items, documents and movie memorabilia.

The book will also include a foreword by Barbara McQueen, a family tree of Steve McQueen’s history and quotes by several Hollywood luminaries.

Steve McQueen: A Tribute to the King of Cool is slated for a fall 2009 release. For more information, visit www.daltonwatson.com.

Connie Martinson Talks Books

2009-01-07T10:08:00.004+13:00

Palm Springs a la Carte
Reviewed by Connie Martinson

It is said that every business man or woman has two businesses, his own and the desire to be in show business or run a restaurant. Neither is the way the dream seemed. In Palm Springs, Mel Haber found the way to combine both. He wrote with Marshall Terrill "Palm Springs a la Carte: The Colorfull World of the Caviar Crows at Their Favorite Desert Hideaway"(Barricade Books $23.95).

In other words, can a small town boy from Brooklyn, NY find happiness in the sunny Palm Springs running a hotel and restaurant? This is before Rancho Mirage and Indian Wells, when there was only Palm Springs and the rest was sand.

When he was 13 Mel's father died, a month before his father was at his Bar Mitzvah, his father was in a business where five checks arrived every month and he knew everyone when the family went to Miami Beach, Mafia and show folk. After his father's death, the checks stopped and Mel started a series of businesses. He got married young, had children and had a partner, Artie, who shared in the various businesses that Mel was in. In 1971 Mel decided he wasn't in love with his wife and that he was happiest when he was in California.

On a trip to Palm Springs with his new friend, Barbra, he started to look at real estate and on April 15, 1975, he bought the Ingleside Inn and restaurant for $300,000 dollars. He never looked back. There were tough financial years, there were people he never should have hired, but where else could he have gotten to know Frank Sinatra and catered his pre-wedding dinner to Barbara Sinatra at the restaurant now known as "Melvyn's".

Mel was present when a certain man who stepped out of The Sopranos placed a phone call to that certain singer telling him to be at the Dinner Theatre in Westchester, NY.

Along the way, Mel remarried and he has a daughter, Stephanie, who is in college. He opened disco dancing restaurants, and a Chinese restaurant, he even had a late night radio show. .Due to the economy and changing times, both have closed. Today, Mel is 72 but he still has the Ingleside Inn and Melvyn's and as he said to me when we taped, that if he sold it, five minutes later it would be "Mel, who?". I laughed and reminded him of the Jack Warner quote about "next week I am just a rich old, Jew". And with changing times, Palm Springs is coming back to be the centre of attention.

To buy a signed copy of Palm Springs a la Carte, go to www.inglesideinn.com, or visit Amazon.com.

"The Interview " with Mel Haber Part 3

2008-12-26T06:50:00.002+13:00

"THE INTERVIEW" WITH MEL HABER (PART 3 OF 4)

I doubt that Mel knew he'd we'd be celebrating The Holidays like this but...

Merry Christmas...

MM: Cecil's was the equivalent of New York City's Studio 54 in Palm Springs. When you look back, what is the single identifiable factor that lent that certain magic to Cecil's or Melvyn's?

MH: The place (Cecil's Disco) was designed in such a way--there were two statistics that say a lot. One night at Cecil's, there were 42 Rolls Royce's in the parking lot. I don't think there's a dealership in the world that had 42 Rolls Royce's on their lot! That was the kind of crowd we attracted. Number two: the place was designed in such a way that this is a disco in Palm Springs in a shopping center. We had no dress code. Eighty-percent of the guys wore jackets and fifty-percent wore ties! In a disco in a shopping center in Palm Springs. It was just a place where you got dressed up to meet members of the opposite sex. As a matter of fact, that's where I met my wife! I was 44 years old. The disco board at Cecil's was up on the second level. You could see everybody come in and see everybody dancing and watch the cocktail waitresses. And my wife was a beautiful school teacher who walks in for the first time with a girlfriend. She sees me up in the disco booth and pokes her girlfriend and says 'Isn't that guy a little old to be a disc jockey?' It was truly love at first sight--all these years ago.

MM: You've sat down with some of the most famous people in the world. You're an astute observer of people. Is there a certain identifiable trait that successful people have that stands out most to you?

MH: No. And that happens to be a very good question because I am a great fan of people of accomplishment. It doesn't necessarily have to be money, but anybody who has accomplished something. And as I sat with these people, I tried to identify just what you asked me! And I couldn't. I couldn't figure out why this particular person was so successful at what they were doing. Of the people that I know, I think a lot of them have chutzpah--the Jewish word; they step up to the plate. One time, I had the pleasure of meeting (billionaire) Kirk Kerkorian. I'm a great reader of biographies and I had a collection of books. So at the the time Kirk Kerkorian came in, I ran home and I brought back his biography and I said 'Mr. Kerkorian, would you be kind enough to autograph this for me?' And he said 'What do you want me to write?' And I said 'Write To My Friend Mel, Kirk Kerkorian'. Well, the next time he came in the manager said 'Mr. Kerkorian wants to see you'. I got nervous. I ran to his table and I said 'Mr. K. you wanted to see me?' He said, 'You know, the last time I was in here you embarrassed me. You asked me for my autograph'. I said, 'Mr. Kerkorian, do you have any idea who you are?' He was absolutely serious that I had embarrassed him because I had asked for his autograph. So, who knows what quality makes somebody as great as they are?

MM: What drove you? What drove Mel Haber to develop this world-famous hotel and restaurant with his blood, sweat and tears--16 hour days six and a half days a week for years? Something drove you.

MH: Greed. G-R-E-E-D.

MM: Greed?

MH: Yeah, Greed.

MM: Really?

MH: (Laughing): Well, I come out of Brooklyn with just a work ethic that you have when you come out of back East that you just work and work. When I first came out here, Michael, my competitors said 'Look at this jerk. If he wanted to work 18 hours a day, he could have stayed back in New York'. These guys closed their restaurants three months a year, they'd close the restaurant at 11 O'clock at night; they didn't stay open until 2 AM. So just by sheer, brute force I was able to compete just by being there much longer than they were. And they said, 'Look, if I wanted to work 18 hours a day I'd never come to Palm Springs. I came out here t play golf during the day, open my restaurant four or five hours a night, close it three months a year and travel'. And I'm the last one to say that they were crazy! I am also fortunate enough to have some staff that have been there 34 years. And I built a product. People don't come there because Mel Haber is there. They come there for the ambiance, or they like the food or the help there. And I'm not a star. Hopefully, I'm an extricated attraction.

MM: Or the main attraction. And I want to get to this. You were the host for a while of a show on radio called "Celebrity Radio" and you gave advice on the singles dating scene. Okay, I'm single.

Talk to me. What are your observations today from your vantage point of having operated Cecil's and restaurants about what makes the singles scene so difficult to navigate?

MH: Well, first of all you have sexually transmitted diseases which didn't exist when I had Cecil's. AIDS was not a word in the early 1980's. Mothers Against Drunk Driving helped raise awareness about reckless partying every night. Those two elements coincided with the end of disco. People partied back then almost seven nights a week. Today, they're nervous. And rightfully so. Also, the Internet has come into play, where all people try to find others on The Internet. My biggest observation when I ran Cecil's--and I met so many single people--and a lot of the ladies used to talk to me. They'd meet a guy and after a dance say 'he's not my number 10'. And I used to say, 'Well, maybe the guy's a 7. Why don't you go with a 7 until you find an 8, go with an 8 until you find a 9 and you can't go from zero to a hundred overnight. And incidentally, I'm a very big philosopher on love relationships, I really am. You can't really know somebody until you go out with them, because everybody puts on a facade. Everybody has a shell out there. Until you really get to know them, you don't have a clue. Now if someone is repulsive, I don't suggest that you try and strip that layer off. There's another thing that I believe in. I don't buy the cliche' 'You can't judge a book by its cover'. I think the cover is the book. I think the way that ladies dresses is her tastes--nobody else's. The way she combs her hair is the way she thinks she looks good. And if I don't like her taste in clothing, nobody dressed her. She is the cover!

MM: Okay, Mel. I'll have to give that some thought. I admit, I wasn't expecting to hear that. But that's why it's fun to visit here.

Note from Michael Manning: To each and every one of you, dear readers, I want to wish you a Merry Christmas with my Warmth and my Love. Each year, I continue to find myself both surprised and sincerely touched by the depth of feeling so many of you consistently communicate to me. If only the whole world were like each of you! I Thank You with all my heart. And I'm aware that I owe many of you visits. I am still operating without my Laptop Computer (while it's in tghe repair shop), so my access is erratic. But I will catch up with you. Meantime, hug someone you love and celebrate Christmas!

Mel wraps up our visit tomorrow with a cup of coffee and a word about an organization near and dear to his heart: The Angel View Crippled Children's Fund. Please join us!

"The Interview" presents Mel Haber Part 2

2008-12-25T06:19:00.001+13:00

"THE INTERVIEW" WITH MEL HABER! (PART 2 OF 4)

Mel is back!...

"My staff of misfits included a day-to-day manager who sported a Buddha-like belly, a bad toupee, and a pronounced limp; a twenty year-old man-boy with a thick Arkansas drawl who alternately served as a bell captain, bellman, bookeeper and front desk clerk; a temperamental chef with a huge appetite for pornography; a housekeeper who had difficulty making beds because of a bad back; and four sixty-year-old waiters, including an Englishman who caused diners to gag on their escargot by addressing them as "Mum" and "Pops".

---Mel Haber, from "Palm Springs a' la Carte".

MM: My readers are a young audience. They'll recognize the names of Arnold Schwarzenegger and Maria Shriver, Cher, Madonna, Kurt Russell, Goldie Hawn and Kate Hudson. But how do you explain the appeal of The Ingleside Inn? You write about walking into one of the the two basements (rare in Palm Springs) of the hotel and finding files of Guest Cards left behind by Ava Gardner, Liz Taylor, john Wayne and Howard Hughes--as I mentioned in my introduction of you--from the 1940's. That's a big stretch to today! I mean, we're talking over 50 years of celebrities in that brief mention. How do you explain that appeal? Someone opens a restaurant in Scottsdale, Arizona and it stays open more than six months, they are considered lucky!

MH: Well, there's a charm and there's an ambiance. The place was built in 1925. And everybody says 'Why don't you open another Ingleside Inn?' And I said 'If I knew how to build another place 80 years-old I would! I don't know how to duplicate that. But there's a certain intrinsic charm and ambiance about the place. And I must tell you as I've come to find out, that people who love small, intimate properties--they hate what they call the big box hotels. Now, having said that, I happen to be going to New York tomorrow. And I stay at a big-box hotel. I'm one of these guys who likes to sit in a lobby and see a thousand people walk by. But there's a whole clientele for my product. That's why it is so incongruous for me to have an Ingleside Inn and a restaurant--because I still can't even cook a hamburger. The point of the story is in the last line of the book, and it's really the story. 'If I can do it, anybody can'. I really hope that it will be an inspiration and motivation for anybody to try anything they want to do. Because I came to this business, knew nothing about the business, was not interested in the business, had no connections, had no money and I had no particular intelligence. So those are things you don't have control over anyway. The things you do have control over is caring, how hard you're willing to work and building around those two things is legitimate. Everybody has those tools. They're intelligence: whatever God gave is what they're stuck with. But everybody can control how hard they're willing to work, being sincere, listening to the customer--that's what I'd like to point out, Michael. The fact that I don't know anything about wine, food or liquor--I couldn't criticize a customer or correct them or anything. The only thing I could use as a tool was to listen to the customers and if a customer called coffee tea when he wanted coffee--I'd give him tea. I wasn't out to prove anything. I was only out to satisfy the customer. And because I had no knowledge, I had to listen to everything they said. My famous saying is, ' I've never been accused of listening to nobody, but I've been accused of listening to everyone'. It's such a great story. Forget about the guy whose name is Mel Haber. I mean, Michael, I just called my best friend in New York and said 'I think I just discovered the cure for cancer'. He said what? I said 'They're putting me on 60 Minutes cause I have a hot saloon!' For all I know, I'm going broke tomorrow. Amazing!

MM: Television has been good to you. You've been on '60 Minutes', 'Phil Donahue', 'David Suskind'. How did that turn out for Mel Haber? Television becomes you!

MH: I enjoyed it. It turns out that I didn't realize I was a ham! I did ten additional shows because I created the word 'Palimony' (this was during the famous 1977 lawsuit between actor Lee Marvin and live-in girlfriend Michele Triola). I mean, that was a great story and a great debate from my side of the fence.

MM: Let me throw out one name for a thumb nail sketch--and you knew him: Frank Sinatra. I'll let you elaborate.

MH: Frank Sinatra is the only person I have ever been in awe of. There was an aura of power about him. And everybody knew that about him. And he was a very high profile presence in Palm Springs. Everybody knew where he was having dinner, and where he was having drinks. in those days, when I first opened Ingleside Inn, Arnold Schwarzenegger and Maria (Shriver)--they were in the hotel once a month. Once they got married and had kids, they wound up renting a house near The Ingleside Inn and then eventually he became governor. They came into the restaurant (Melvyn's) quite a bit and they were great customers. Kurt Russell and Goldie Hawn would come here back when Kate Hudson was just a little kid. As a matter of fact, one day as I was walking out of my office and I saw Kurt and Goldie and I said, 'Oh, God! What are you guys doing here?' As it turns out, they needed someplace to go. So, they decided to fly to Palm Springs--Kurt Russell is a pilot--and spend an hour and a half at my pool at The Ingleside Inn and then fly back home in L.A.--which was a quite an honor for me. Marlon Brando spent a couple of days at the place--spending half his time, I might add--sitting in his mobile home outside the property talking on his CB (Citizens Band) radio. If these people knew they were talking to Marlon Brando on their CB Radios, they'd go crazy! John Travolta used to come down here all the time--back when he was in "Saturday Night Fever". All of that was such a blur, Michael. I had five restaurants that I had going and all of that celebrity was going on --and I was the loser. because I was so busy with my restaurant or my hotel--working 18 to 20 hours a day. I didn't have the time to absorb all of the people that I met. I remember one time, I told my wife 'Of all the people I met, I always wanted to meet Dionne Warwick'. And my wife took me into my office at home and showed me my picture with Dionne Warwick!

MM: Well, this next item was hilarious for me. All three of actor Michael Landon's ex-wives showed up at the restaurant at the same time. My God, how did you handle that nightmare?

MH: I'll one-up you on that. One night, as it turns out--a married couple that were cheating on each other somehow wound up in adjacent rooms at The Ingleside Inn and both walked of their rooms at the same time and I was standing there--and they were both in shock! They wound up getting a divorce, of course. But both a very prominent couple from Beverly Hills--both decided to sneak away to the small Ingleside Inn where nobody would see them and as fate would have it--I guess it was meant to be--they both walked out of the rooms and saw each other. But those stories go on endlessly. I'm sitting at the bar and a guy walks up to me and says 'Can you do me a favor?' I said certainly! He says 'I'm sitting right around the corner at the first table with my girlfriend. I'm going to go out into the car and I'm going to give you a ring. And after that, would you come around the corner and propose to my girlfriend for me?' So he does that. He gives me the ring, I wait until he walks around the corner and I walk up to his table and say to his girlfriend, 'Excuse me. Would you like to get married?' And she says, without hesitation. ' I hardly know you'. And I said, 'Not to me--to him!' And then she screamed and kissed him and they got married.

MM: There ya go! Tell us about the night Steve McQueen and Ali MacGraw showed up. This is a killer!

MH: And that's how I got to meet the prolific Marshall Terrill, who wrote the biography of Steve McQueen, ("Steve McQueen: Portrait of an American Rebel") right? This is the story I am best known for. It was the first of a million bleeps. In 1975, while I was remodeling the place there was a young guy who hung around everyday. because he was a parking lot attendant at a restaurant two blocks away that was closed for the summer. So, he had nothing to do. He hung around and we became friends. His name is Danny Glick. He promised me that he would send up people from Lion's English Grille--it's been around for years. Come opening night, everybody is dressed beautifully. I am as nervous as can be. In the dining room, I had a maître d' who knew everybody in town. Everybody had jackets and ties. During the course of the evening, many people came up and told me 'Danny told me to come up and look at the place', and one was actor Tony Franciosa. I step outside to take a smoke because I'm nervous, and a motorcycle pulls up--a big blue Harley-Davidson with a girl on the back. And they're dressed the way they should be dressed on a motorcycle. I looked up and said "Buddy, give me a break will ya please? It's my opening night". And the guy looks at me, smiles and he takes off. An hour later Danny shows up and I said 'Danny, you're a sweetheart. It was just marvelous'. He said ' Did ya get all the people? Tony Franciosa, the actor?' I said 'Absolutely'. He said 'How about Steve McQueen?' I said 'Steve McQueen never showed up'. He said 'What are you talking about? That big blue Harley showed up and he promised me he'd come right up'. So, I got famous for chasing away Steve McQueen and Ali MacGraw!

Next Up: We're Gonna Disco

at Cecil's!

"The Interview" presents Mel Haber Part 1

2008-12-24T05:44:00.004+13:00

"THE INTERVIEW" PRESENTS: MEL HABER! (PART 1 OF 4)

Mel Haber

Owner of The Ingleside Inn & Melvyn's

Palm Springs, California

The New Book by Mel Haber with Marshall Terrill
-

Mel Haber is my Guest today on "THE INTERVIEW" and he is a celebrity among U.S. presidents, business tycoons and movie stars alike who are frequent guests of The Ingleside Inn and his famed restaurant and bar named Melvyns. Not to worry! I'll be staying there soon after reading his new book.

Now, you've got to admit: my timing is a bit ...different. I mean, posting a new Guest on December 23rd! Am I crazy? Au contraire! Then what's the deal? Well, January, 2009 marks the publication of Mel's book Palm Springs a' la Carte. Built in 1925, The Ingleside Inn fell into a state of disrepair by the 1960's. Then in 1974, after a long career in New York as a garment industry executive, Mel Haber took on the Hospitality Industry armed only with a determination to be successful and to restore the storied hotel that was frequented in the 1940's by the likes of Howard Hughes, Katherine Hepburn and Liz Taylor. Never mind that he can't cook a hamburger! Today, The Ingleside Inn's roster of clientele includes Madonna, Cher, Kurt Russell, Goldie Hawn, Kate Hudson, Arnold Schwarzenegger and Maria Shriver! Unlike the corporate-owned chains of predictable hotels and casinos one finds in Las Vegas and Atlantic City, Mel Haber restored The Ingleside Inn and built Melvyn's with his own blood, sweat and tears. It was (excuse the pun) a roll of the dice. But Mel managed to survive every embarrassing blooper and blunder and emerge with his wit and humor intact.

Can you imagine being in Mel's shoes the night all three of actor Michael Landon's ex wives showed up at Melvyn's? YOW! Or how about seeing a pretty lady on the back of a blue Harley-Davidson motorcycle with a bearded guy and watching Mel in a slightly stressed out state of mind say, "Buddy, it's Opening Night. Please, give me a break!"...only to discover he just sent away Steve McQueen and Ali MacGraw! OUCH! And remember the other night, when I wrote about suffering a laughing fit and falling off my couch at home? It was 11 PM and I had just read the opening of Chapter 5 of Mel's book. His description of the kitchen staff he inherited redefined the word "Hysterical"! No, I can't repeat his description here. But believe me...When every thing that could go wrong and did, Mel admits it in this highly entertaining book with nothing held back! Whats more...Little did I know that it was Mel (not that other guy) who first used the term "Palimony". Then there was the night when a dining patron begged Mel to propose for him to his girlfriend while dining at Melvyns! Another time, Frank Sinatra summoned Mel over to his table to discuss a party he was planning. And Frank knew details like no one's business! Sly Stallone filmed Rambo: First Blood Part II at The Ingleside Inn. Oh, I could go on...and I will! And the reason is that many of you read BLOGS on Christmas Week. So, I figured: "Why not?" In that spirit we sat down last weekend to get a take on life among "Caviar Dreams and Champagne Wishes". I separated this visit along 4 days. It is a fun roller coaster ride. Welcome Aboard!

MM: You made a fascinating observation toward the end of your book where you stated that the celebrities of New York (Mel was raised in Brooklyn) were actors, actresses and well known millionaires of the business world. But in Palm Springs, celebrities are more likely to be restaurant owners, bartenders, valets and doormen. Tell us about this. It's a curious take on fame, isn't it?

MH: It's a totally different mentality. When I first came out here in California 34 years ago in 1974, they would tell me that the guy to see was Vidal Sassoon. At that time, he owned a hair salon that did women's hair. The other guy was Mike Silverman. Mike was a realtor, and if you wanted to buy a house, he took your girlfriend or your wife around to show them a house. In New York, to be big you had to be Donald Trump; you had to own twenty-two buildings. In California, a business owner or a store owner was a big shot in Beverly Hills. And they would point these people out to me. I remember when I first came out here, there was a club that I wanted to join called PIPS--it represented the points on a backgammon table. Anyway, it was a very exclusive and private club. When I applied to join they told me I had to be qualified by Stan Herman. Stan Herman was a realtor! He was a very prominent socialite, but again, he was the guy to show you around when you wanted to buy a house. And it was a whole different mentality. You had to get used to that after a while.

MM: Mel, when you arrived in Palm Springs in 1974 what was your first impression of the area before you acquired The Ingleside Inn?

MH: Well, when I first came to Palm Springs, I was interviewed by The New York Times. And nobody could define the magic of Palm Springs. And in the interview, out of my mouth came the word 'Gold'. I realized that was the magic of Palm Springs. Another comment made me the worst outcast in town. I said, 'My first impression was that it had the ugliest mountains I ever saw! They were brown, they were dirty. I come from back East where the mountains are green, there's trees and there's foliage'. So, of course that didn't make me very popular in town. But as I was describing my existence in Palm Springs, I said 'Depending on your personality and your nature, when I was in New York, if I was looking for clothes, maybe there were better clothes in other stores and I'd go and look. If I was in a certain bar, maybe there were prettier ladies somewhere else'. In other words, there were always choices about where I could be or should be, maybe I should be someplace else. If I was staying here, maybe there was more action there? And you were always a little anxious. When I came out to Palm Springs, the magic was that there was nothing happening anywhere. So, if you were staying at The Spa Hotel, or The Riviera or The Canyon Hotel, you didn't say 'I could be or should be' because there were no choices; there was nothing happening. Subsequently, you were totally at peace with yourself. It was serene. If you wanted to sit by the pool and read your book, or go to a bar and have a drink or play tennis whatever you wanted to do in the desert, you knew that there was nothing else going on. There were no theaters, things weren't happening. Wherever you were is where it was happening! And that was the magic of Palm Springs, that you didn't end up missing something. Now of course things are changing--that's called progress. And now you have choices, there are things to do. But still, it's three words. It's Quality of Life. As an ex-New Yorker, if I get caught by a traffic light or I can't park my car in front of a store, I'm annoyed. Everything is relative. When I was in L.A. last week doing an appearance on a TV show, I said to myself, 'I don't understand why people even live there! I am so spoiled living in the desert, it's amazing!'

MM: This is a fascinating story, because the way you and Marshall wrote this book, I literally felt as though I were along with you! When you first drove onto the Ingleside Inn property it sounded dilapidated. It was not in great shape. But you had the vision to really see something beyond what was physically there before you. Not everybody that you brought out there as potential investment partners saw what you did. I guess this goes right to the heart of the magic you spoke about. What were you seeing that others didn't?

MH: You know Michael, I would like to think that there was some foresight there. When you say that not many people saw it--nobody saw it! But I can't explain it. I'm not into old properties. I'm not into charm. I'm not into that. But there was something that made me want to buy The Ingleside Inn without having the intention of either operating a hotel or a restaurant. I just looked on it as an investment with no downside. Two acres in the middle of Palm Springs at a very inexpensive price. In hindsight, they say that a little knowledge is a dangerous thing. I didn't know what I was doing! If I knew then what I know now, I could have never done it. I would have been aware of all of the obstacles; I would have been aware of the odds. All of these things I came to learn about! You don't know that you can't accomplish something--we didn't know we couldn't get to the Moon! Some way someone got us to The Moon. For years, we never thought we could get to The Moon, so we never got there! So, there's something to be said for just perseverance and tenacity without knowing what you're doing--just plodding straight ahead. And you wind up getting there somehow. That's my story nonetheless. I'm a lucky beneficiary of lucking out or of succeeding in spite of myself and not because of myself.

Look for part two of this interview soon.

To order a signed copy of Palm Springs a la Carte, visit www.inglesideinn.com.

Haber's new book offers delicious second helping

2008-12-23T06:10:00.003+13:00

Mel Haber has written yet ANOTHER book, this time he enlisted the help of author Marshall Terrill. Mel's first book Bedtime Stories was well read and a huge success about the guests of his Palm Springs hotel the Ingleside Inn and the on-site restaurant Melvyn's. Bedtime Stories was an entertaining peek into the colorful world of stars and royalty at their famous Palm Springs hideaway!

His second book is Palm Springs a la Carte: The Colorful World of the Caviar Crowd at Their Favorite Desert Hideaway. The book starts where he was born, Brooklyn, New York and continues through his career as a former automotive accessory manufacturer to his 1975 move to Palm Springs.

Mel then tells the story of how he came to buy the hotel property with no knowledge of running a hotel or a restaurant. The rest of the story complete with personal and sometimes intimate detail is indeed a look behind the scenes and behind a few doors of the Ingleside Inn and Melvyn's restaurant.

Visitors have included Golden Era celebrities Frank Sinatra, Ava Gardner, John Wayne, Howard Hughes, Spencer Tracey and Katherine Hepburn, along with contemporary celebrities Madonna, Cher, Kurt Russell, Goldie Hawn, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Maria Shriver and Lance Bass.

Keep in mind with all of these celebrity name droppings that Mel Haber treats all of his guests like a star. Purchase this fabulous new book and read the charming and often hilarious book by going to his web site http://www.inglesideinn.com/ Once you read it you will find yourself inexplicably dialing 800-772-6655 for reservations for dinner at Melvyn's or a weekend at the Ingleside Inn.

Mel Haber by the numbers

2008-12-22T19:14:00.005+13:00

Palm Springs a la Carte paints Mel Haber by the numbers

Mel Haber (born October 24, 1936 in Brooklyn, New York) is the owner and proprietor of the Ingleside Inn and Melvyn's Restaurant in Palm Springs since 1975. He has served on the board of the Angel View Crippled Children's Foundation for more than twenty-five years and has been its president for the past fifteen.

Early years

Haber is the youngest of four children and the only boy of Louis and Mary Haber. The son of a garment district salesman, Haber grew up in an apartment overlooking Ocean Parkway in the Flatbush section of Brooklyn. He attended Erasmus High School, which boasted a healthy roster of famous and important people throughout the years. Some of its alumni included actors Jeff Chandler, Moe Howard, Bernie Kopell, Barbara Stanwyck; singer Barbra Streisand, author Micky Spillane; chess player Bobby Fischer and Sid Luckman, the former quarterback of the Chicago Bears.

When Louis Haber died at fifty-two of a heart attack, Mel became the family's breadwinner. To make ends meet, the twelve-year-old started delivering groceries, sold peanuts and beer at Ebbets Field and spent his summers in the Catskills as a busboy. He says it was there were he learned “motion efficiency," which is commonly known as “working smart,” a trait he used when he eventually operated six different restaurants. Once Haber graduated high school, he enrolled in the Fashion Institute of Technology (F.I.T.) on the west side of Manhattan in the fall of 1954.

Successes and failures

Two months after Haber enrolled in F.I.T., he quit after he received a phone call from businessman Artie Schifrin, who offered him a job at $85 a week working for Wallfrin Industries. In December 1954, ABC aired a three-part series called “Davy Crockett, Indian Fighter.” The coonskin hat worn by actor Fess Parker set off a craze with the nation's youth, and several manufacturing companies, including Wallfrin Industries, jumped on the multi-million dollar business bandwagon and began producing coonskin items. The craze lasted longer than anyone expected and finally ended when raccoon tails surged from twenty-five cents each to $5 a pound by May 1955.

Out of work for the first time in his life, Haber regrouped at age nineteen. He first sold shoes and then stocks before he received a life-changing phone call from Schifrin, who switched Wallfrin Industries from a bicycle accessories business to an automotive novelty business and desperately wanted him back.

Wallfrin Industries

Following World War II, the greatest and longest economic boom in world history was launched, and by the late fifties, approximately ten million cars were sold on an annual basis. It was an era in which American teenagers (the Baby Boom Generation) did everything in their cars. Between 1961 and 1968, Wallfrin Industries produced 750 different items such as hula dolls that gyrated in rear windows, religious statues for the dashboard, fuzzy dice for the rear view mirror, self-adhesive pin striping and tiger tails to hang on the gas tank. Their most successful product was Amber Lens Dye, which sold more than one million units.

Automatic Radio purchased Wallfrin Industries in 1968 for $3 million, of which Haber collected 10 percent. Haber used the money to start several new businesses on the side. He launched a boiler-cleaning business, a front-end wheel-alignment franchise, a company factoring medical centers, an import business, a vacuum forming business, and an automotive-chemical manufacturing business. None of them were money makers and Haber shut them down and regrouped. Facing a textbook mid-life crisis, Haber traded in his large house in Long Island and Rolls Royce for a used Fiat and a furnished apartment in Marina Del Rey in Los Angeles.

Palm Springs

Invited by a friend to visit Palm Springs, Haber stumbled upon the Ingleside Inn in 1975. The property, located at 200 Ramon Road, was in a state of disrepair thanks to an absentee owner. Haber learned the original owner was the widow of Humphrey Birge, manufacturer of the Pierce Arrow motorcar. She built the private estate at the foot of the San Jacinto Mountains in 1925 and sold it a decade later to Palm Springs Councilwoman Ruth Hardy, who transformed the place into a 20-room hotel. She successfully ran the Inn for the next thirty years as an exclusive private club whose guests came by invitation only. Hardy's clientèle included Howard Hughes, John Wayne, Greta Garbo, Spencer Tracy, Katherine Hepburn, Greer Garson, Elizabeth Taylor, Ava Gardner, Salvador Dali, Norman Vincent Peale and J.C. Penney.

After Hardy's death in 1965, the stardust from the old days had largely faded away over the next decade. Haber, who knew nothing about operating a resort, made a spontaneous handshake deal to buy the property for $300,000. On April 15, 1975, Haber was officially the proud new owner of the Ingleside Inn.

Ingleside Inn and Melvyn's

Haber shut down the Inn that summer and spent another $250,000 in restoration costs, including Melvyn's restaurant. The Inn opened its doors on September 15, 1975 and was an immediate success.

Over the years, the Inn has become a magnet for Hollywood's elite, U.S. Presidents, royalty, aristocrats, captains of industry and celebrities visiting Palm Springs. They include Frank Sinatra, Bob Hope, Marlon Brando, Arnold Schwarzenneger and Maria Shriver, Sylvester Stallone, Liza Minelli, Liberace, Jerry Lewis, Barry Manilow, Kurt Russell, Goldie Hawn, Rita Hayworth, Pat Boone, Debbie Reynolds, Larry King, John Travolta, Sidney Sheldon, David Hasselhoff, President Gerald Ford, George Hamilton, and celebrity travel columnists Donald Pile and Ray Williams,.

The status of the hotel took a quantum leap upward when Frank Sinatra and Barbara Marx held their pre-wedding party at Melvyn's in July 1976, and another when the restaurant and Inn were later named one of the world's premier hotel and dining venues by Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous.

Cecils and other restaurant ventures

Tapping into the popularity of disco, Haber opened Cecils, a 9,000-square-foot Chinese restaurant/discotheque on October 1, 1979. The $1.2 million disco rivaled Studio 54 in popularity and attracted celebrities like Kirk Douglas, Sonny Bono, Evel Knievel, Reggie Jackson, Smokey Robinson, Joan Collins, Jack Paar, Mary Martin, Carol Conners, Lola Falana, Lyle Waggoner, Ed Marinaro, Deney Terrio and John Travolta.

Haber followed Cecils with a pair of dining ventures in the early 1980s: Saturdays and Doubles. Saturdays was a knock off of the T.G.I.Friday's franchise while Doubles was a large restaurant inside the famed Tennis Club. Haber unexpectedly found himself the second largest employer in Palm Springs with approximately 200 people on his payroll (the local hospital was the largest).

Angel View

Pop culture historians had proclaimed disco dead by 1980, but it was alive and well in Palm Springs. Haber sold Cecil's to a pair of local businessmen in 1985. That same year he also unloaded Doubles and Saturdays. With more time on his hands, Haber devoted himself to the Angel View Crippled Children's Foundation, which was based in nearby Desert Hot Springs.

The foundation was originally created by a small group of people from the Coachella Valley who felt the area's natural hot springs would be useful in the rehabilitation of children with polio. Angel View's mission broadened to include those children afflicted with a wide-range of physical challenges. Haber served as a board member in 1983 and became Angel View’s president in 1993. The foundation opened its seventeenth home and named it the Mel Haber House on November 14, 2002.

Touche

Palm Springs had been awaiting Mel Haber's return to the club scene and in January 1994, he obliged them with the opening of Touche, a $1.3 million Moroccan-themed bar, nightclub and restaurant. More than 500 people showed up on opening night, including Andy Williams, George Hamilton, Connie Stevens, Jack Jones, Engelbert Humperdinck, Marc Lawrence and Jackie Mason. Despite an international plug from Runaway with the Rich and Famous featuring Robin Leach, a curious pattern started to emerge at Touche: Haber was turning people away on weekends but had no mid-week business. He eventually discovered that people's work and play habits had changed, and that there was also more enlightenment about alcohol and substance abuse through the media. Haber sold Touche in 1996 for $250,000, and had come full circle: he had returned his attentions back to The Ingleside Inn and Melvyn's, which were still thriving.

Author and Palm Springs Walk of Fame

With the sale of Touche safely in the rear view mirror, Haber wrote an anecdotal book called Bedtime Stores of the Legendary Ingleside Inn in 1996. The book mainly focused on funny stories and misadventures involving the Ingleside Inn and Melvyn's. With a dedication by Arnold Schwarzenneger, the book sold approximately 10,000 copies. That same year Haber received a star on the Palm Springs Walk of Fame on October 24, 1996, which was his sixtieth birthday. The city of Palm Springs also decided to make the Ingleside Inn an official historic site in 1996, which commemorated Haber's second decade in the desert.

By the new millennium, Palm Springs was infused with new life when the younger generation went through a retro movement and yearned for Hollywood's authentic glamor days. As a result, the Ingleside Inn and Melvyn's has become the center of the nostalgia movement.

In January 2009, Haber will see the publication of his second book, Palm Springs a la Carte : The Colorful World of the Caviar Crowd at The Favorite Desert Hideaway, co-authored with biographer Marshall Terrill.

Cars keyboardist records Beatles tribute CD

2008-12-22T12:51:00.005+13:00

The Beatles Uke

by Greg Hawkes

Greg Hawkes is paying tribute to The Beatles almost 45 years after they enticed him to get into the music business.

The famed keyboardist and co-founder of The Cars, said everything musically begins and ends with the Fab Four.

“My first concert was seeing the Beatles in 1964,” Hawkes said. “They changed my life. Indeed, they changed the world.”

The release of The Beatles Uke (Solid Air Records, 2008), a cover of Hawkes’ favorite Beatles classics – is a timeless testament to the inspiration and influence of the legendary group’s music and on his career.

The 15-song collection of Beatles songs is played entirely on the ukulele and multi-tracked to create a “Ukesymphonic” orchestra.

Perhaps it’s not such a far-fetched idea after all when you consider that George Harrison, a known ukulele enthusiast, is considered the spiritual leader of the current wave of interest in the music. Fellow ex-Beatle Paul McCartney also plays the instrument, and compellingly so when he paid tribute to his fallen friend on “Something” during his 2002 world tour.

Hawkes, who helped define the sounds of the 1980s with his signature keyboard stylings on Cars hits such as “Just What I Needed,” “Let’s Go”, and “Shake It Up,” and “Heartbeat City,” took a new direction with his music in 2001 when his wife gave him a ukulele as a gift. He’s been hooked ever since.

Hawkes started collecting ukuleles and got involved in the “Uke” scene in and around Boston, which led him to try duplicating Beatles string parts. Longtime friend and former Cars guitarist, Elliot Easton, put Hawkes in touch with James Jensen of Solid Air Records, who suggested an entire CD of Beatles tunes. The result is The Beatles Uke.

“The ukulele has made playing music fun again,” Hawkes said.

For more information on The Beatles Uke, visit www.greghawkesmusic.com or www.acousticmusicresource.com.

Track listings for The Beatles UKE:

Penny Lane
And I Love Her
Strawberry Fields Forever
Here Comes the Sun
Eleanor Rigby
Being for the Benefit of Mr. Kite
The Fool on the Hill
Yellow Submarine
Piggies
She’s Leaving Home
Honey Pie
For You Blue
Yesterday
Blue Jay Way
Goodnight

McQueen's last years in exhibit

2008-12-21T08:04:00.005+13:00

McQueen's last years in exhibit

by Marissa Belles - Dec. 20, 2008 07:00 AM
The Arizona Republic

This spring a photography exhibition featuring the works of Barbara McQueen will be on display at the Chandler Center for the Arts.

Steve McQueen: The Last Mile, is composed of about 30 prints sampling an intimate glimpse into McQueen's world near the end of his life. McQueen had taken a step back from Hollywood before his untimely death from cancer at age 50.

"These pictures show a private side of a very private man," said Marshall Terrill, a Valley resident who helped co-write the book, Steve McQueen the Last Mile, which features about 150 private photos of the actor. "This was a guy who always had a sort of inner struggle and these pictures show him at peace."

Barbara was his third wife and documented this pop culture icon enjoying some of the actor's more simple pleasures, such as hitting the open road in his vintage pick-up truck, driving 700 miles to pick up a rare World War I motorcycle and drinking a beer. She has had exhibitions everywhere from London to San Francisco, although Chandler will be her last stop.

The exhibition will be on display March 6- April 11 at the Chandler Center for the Arts, 250 N. Arizona Ave.

Lively Librarian says Pete Maravich is top shelf

2008-12-20T10:10:00.004+13:00

I'm not much of a sports fan but I am a BIG fan of exceptional people and after reading Pete Maravich The Authorized Biography of Pistol Pete by Wayne Federman and Marshall Terrill I have a new respect for an extraordinary athlete and family man, the basketball legend "Pistol Pete".

Authors Federman and Terrill write an authorized biography of a man with an awe inspiring talent who deeply loved his family and his faith. The book is meticulously researched and written with details that aren't just facts from interviews but from the rare privilege of collaboration with Pete's widow. The beautiful family photographs, the inclusion of personal letters and the quirky personality traits (Pete's wearing of large stretched out gray socks for 9 seasons because he thought they made his feet appear smaller and made him feel faster) are all included in Pete's story and create a book that is hard to put down. Not only are his athletic accomplishments mind boggling (he is considered by many to be the greatest college basketball player of all time and is a 5 time NBA All Star) but his dedication to his health (he was vegan, grew his own vegetables and ate soy and juiced before it was mainstream) and his family (wife Jackie and 2 sons) and his faith (in the depths of despair he found Christ and changed his life) are inspiring.

Pete died suddenly at age 40 in 1988.

Read the book and learn what true greatness is all about.

For more information on this review, go to www.livelylibrarian.com or to buy a copy of Pete Maravich: The Authorized Biography of Pistol Pete, visit www.amazon.com.

Mistaken Identity

2008-12-13T18:42:00.003+13:00

The following is an excerpt from Palm Springs à la Carte by Mel Haber with Marshall Terrill (Barricade Books, Inc.), to be published February 2009.

Printed with permission

By opening night the whole town was waiting for me to open my doors. Back then the doyens of Palm Springs society were a small-knit group, but an informed one. I happened to open my place at a time when there was absolutely nothing else going on and I got lucky. Very lucky.

I also made a key hire — someone that could bring the stars to my hotel, bar, and restaurant, which I had renamed "Melvyn's" on the advice of a friend.

"I can't name it Melvyn's," I protested initially. "You'd have to be an egomaniac to name a place after yourself."

"Nobody has ever called you Melvyn," my friend said. He had a point. Nobody had ever called me "Melvyn," including my mother. Everyone simply called me Mel. But the trick was going to be trying to find a guy to be Melvyn — a suave, sophisticated front man who knew how to cater to powerful people. I knew I wasn't polished enough to pull it off.

As hard as this may be to believe, I'm basically pretty shy. I am not a very sociable person, but that doesn't preclude me from talking your ears off once I know you. It's never been my style to walk up to a stranger and strike up a conversation. I've always preferred my little space in the back office and pulling the strings. So the trick for me was to find someone who could be Melvyn and be a face that the public would associate with my establishment.

Through a bit of good luck, I managed to lure Hank Van de Boer, who was the longtime maitre d' of the world famous Racquet Club. The historic hotel resort was founded by actors Charles Farrell and Ralph Bellamy in December 1934, and the opening and closing of the Racquet Club signaled the beginning and the end of each season in Palm Springs. Just about every major Hollywood star traipsed through the doors of the storied club, and now I had the maitre d' who'd befriended these stars. My timing couldn't have been better. The club had just been sold and was starting to lose some of its luster. The maitre d' saw it as the right time to make a move, and luckily for me, he did. He brought plenty of his former clientele to my new place, and for that I was very thankful.

August was drawing to a close, and the site was looking pretty spiffy. We were not completely finished, but I had come to the realization that it would never be and there would always be something to fix. My beach boy chef, Charlie, much to my surprise and delight, had put together a very ambitious yet traditional Old World menu. We decided to open the doors on September 15. I chose to have a quiet opening so that I could iron out the kinks before the season went into full swing. I placed a small ad in the Desert Sun announcing that Melvyn's was now serving dinner. I had also made up a critique sheet that I was going to use for customer feedback. It was presented at every table with the check, and the waiter was instructed to buy a round of drinks for every table that filled it out.

As I drove to Melvyn's on opening night, I honestly had no idea what to expect. Was it going to be a bust, or would my efforts be appreciated? I was stunned to find the bar full of people and every table in the dining room was taken. I mean, I couldn't believe my eyes. To say that I was nervous was a major understatement. The maitre d' informed me that we were sold out! Who knew? I thought maybe we might get some curiosity seekers, but to have a sold out crowd was beyond my wildest dreams. As I looked around the totally unfamiliar crowd, it appeared as if all the women were beautiful and all the men were handsome and dashing, and everybody was impeccably dressed. I had argued with myself that day as to whether or not to wear a tie, but luckily I made the right decision. Had I guessed wrong, I would have been totally out of place because all the men were wearing jackets and ties.

The maitre d' pulled me into a corner in the dining room and gave me a run-down of the people in the room: actors Mary Martin and Tony Franciosa; Mousie Powell, wife of Dick Powell, who ran Four Star Studios; Mayor Frank Bogert; 21 Club owners Jerry and Molly Berns; retired studio mogul Darryl Zanuck and his wife; the Florsheims; and several other movers and shakers. As he related their names and who they were, I felt flush. It seemed as if I had the Who's Who of the country in my establishment.

I circulated throughout the dining room and bar for about two hours, having no idea what to do with myself. As I walked around, several people stopped me to introduce themselves and wish me good luck. It seemed as if an angel had sprinkled some stardust on me because everything seemed to click. I had even hired a piano player for the lounge, and while he was tinkling the ivories in the back, that area began to fill up, too.

I had a college student named Danny Click to thank for a lot of the patrons; Danny and I struck up an unlikely friendship over the course of the summer. He was a young, ambitious kid who parked cars at a well-known restaurant two blocks away. I immediately liked him. Perhaps I sensed in him the same work ethic and hustle that I had possessed at his age. His restaurant was closed over the summer, and he visited almost every day. Danny had assured me that when I opened he would recommend people to stop over and visit Melvyn's

His word was good as gold, and several people dropped by Melvyn's on opening night, mentioning that Danny had sent them my way. At about ten o'clock, I walked outside to have a cigarette. Just at that very moment, a scruffy-looking guy dressed in dungarees and a T-shirt and sporting a heavy beard pulled up on a Harley-Davidson motorcycle. He had a very pretty lady on the back of the bike. He's certainly not the Ingleside Inn type, I thought, becoming a little full of myself. The guy said he had come to see the "new place."

"Please buddy not tonight!" I begged him. "It's opening night and I don't want any trouble. Come back another night and I'll buy you a drink." He smiled at me, gunned the throttle on the motorcycle and drove off. I was pleased at how I handled a delicate situation so adeptly.

About an hour later, Danny showed up and asked, "Mel, have you been getting all the people I've been sending over?" I told him I had and thanked him profusely He then asked how I enjoyed meeting Steve McQueen and Ali MacGraw, Hollywood's new golden couple. Startled and disappointed that I had not, I said they never showed. Danny said he was surprised because they assured him they would come right over to have a nightcap.

He said, "They were on a big, blue Harley-Davidson motorcycle and Steve McQueen was wearing blue jeans and a T-shirt." It turned out that I'd yanked the welcome mat from under the international box-office champion and his glamorous movie star wife. He never came back. Luckily for me, that was the only blunder of that night. However, it was the first of many faux pas that I eventually became famous for.

For more information or to order Palm Springs a la Carte, visit www.inglesideinn.com or www.amazon.com.

From model to photographer

2008-12-13T18:19:00.002+13:00

Nancy Lee Andrews: From model to photographer

Alyssa Webb

Media Credit: iconicphotos.com

Media Credit: Nancy Lee Andrews

Former international Ford model Nancy Lee Andrews spent her narcissistic days, as she refers to them, in front of the camera. Slowly, she became more interested in clicking the shutter rather than being the subject. A fateful day rinsing prints in a darkroom with renowned photographer Milton Greene solidified her fascination.

Asking Greene too many questions, he eventually handed her a Nikon and encouraged her to begin taking pictures of "anything that [she] found interesting." He praised her; "You've got an eye, Nancy."

"As soon as I started creating imagery and controlling other people with it, I was hooked," said Andrews. "You can really capture people, if the timing is right and the atmosphere is right, you can really dig in."

Thus began the photography of the half-Sicilian, half-Cherokee woman who captured the lives and faces of some of the great artists that decorated the '70s.

Andrews' book "A Dose of Rock 'n' Roll" (Dalton Watson Fine Books, 2008, $49.00) is a nostalgic journey into the land of musical greats like Eric Clapton, George Harrison, Pattie Boyd and Ringo Starr.

"When we would all get together, I'd cook a big dinner. The guys would go in the living room, go to the bar and start drinking Brandy and Heneiken." Like a family.

An intimate portrayal of Andrews' personal relationship with Ringo Starr is also fully illuminated in the photos.

In 1974, Andrews met Ringo Starr at a house that John Lennon had rented. Andrews was introduced to Lennon through her former boyfriend, guitarist Carl Radle.

"He was legally estranged from his wife at the time and was just finishing up on his 'Ringo' album," she said. "I think he said to John, 'I want to meet her' so a couple months later after a brief meeting, John set us up.

"It was John that pretty much introduced us and played Cupid."

Andrews spent her life through the '70s with Ringo, rubbing elbows with musical greats everywhere she went. She was never star struck, but understood that these people were special.

"I realized that these guys were so talented, and had their finger on the pulse of music and pop culture, but at the same time, I was never awe struck."

But the girl that was surrounded by legendary artists met her match in composure when she ran into 'The Duke' at the El Padrino Room in the Beverly Wilshire Hotel.

"We were having dinner and John Wayne was sitting across from me and we were both speechless," she said. "We were like two kids. I think we had just seen 'The Quiet Man' and there he was.

"When he got up, Ringo stopped him and said 'Mr. Wayne' and he goes 'Well, 'Ello Mr. Ringo'"-in her best John Wayne impression-"and Ringo says 'I'd like to introduce you to my girlfriend. Will you give her a hug and a kiss?'

"I stood up and he just grabbed me, and John Wayne is a really large man. My knees were knocking. He laid a big Maureen O'Hara kiss on my lips. It was totally surreal."

The book captures an era that this college generation did not get the chance to see. Andrews, now 61, knows how lucky she was to experience it, but she doesn't pine for those days.

"I don't miss that life," she said. "At the same time, I feel like a very lucky girl, who was happy to be in the middle of it. Also lucky because I loved photography so much that I was able to document it. There's so much that didn't make it into the book. It's pretty phenomenal!"

There's no way she could fit all of her historic photos into one book.

"The book could have been 500 pages. That was my thing. I've got thousands of photos," she said. "You have to condense the story."

The book was designed and written by Andrews and reminds her somewhat of a family photo album.

"It just happens to be extraordinary pop icons. What a bunch of posers we were!" said Andrews with a laugh. "We were always posing for each other. I said to my publisher, 'I don't know who's going to be interested!'"

But people are interested.

"We're already talking about doing 'Another Dose of Rock 'n' Roll!'"

For more information on A Dose of Rock 'n' Roll or to purchase a copy, go to www.daltonwatson.com or www.amazon.com.

Palm Springs a la Carte served up Feb. 1, 2009

2008-11-20T16:53:00.004+13:00

Palm Springs a la Carte gets served up February 1, 2009

Mel Haber still doesn't know how to cook a steak, make a Bloody Mary or open a cash register.

That's not an astounding statement to make unless you have been a very successful restaurateur and have been in business for more than three decades. Haber, who was the operator of six different restaurants, including the legendary Melvyn's Restaurant and the Ingleside Inn in Palm Springs, made every mistake in the book and succeed in spite of himself.

Perhaps even more amazing is the fact how the former automotive novelty manufacturer from Coney Island, Brooklyn, stumbled into the desert in 1975 and made a name for himself in a business he knew nothing about – the hospitality industry.

Palm Springs a la Carte: The Colorful World of the Caviar Crowd at Their Favorite Desert Hideaway (Barricade Books, 2009) is a charming, often hilarious book describing the adventures of novice restaurateur and hotelier, Melvyn Haber, an automotive accessory manufacturer from the bowels of New York City who is a legend in the sugar-frosted society of Palm Springs.

Haber admits he made every mistake in the book, which didn't preclude him from running one of the most successful restaurant's and hotels of all time. His establishments have attracted a guest list that reads like a Who's Who of the world. Visitors have included Frank Sinatra, Bob Hope, Marlon Brando, Liberace, Liza Minnelli, President Gerald Ford, Steve Allen, Lucille Ball, Dinah Shore, Rita Hayworth, Jerry Lewis and June Allyson.

The book is filled with entertaining stories that offer a peek into the colorful world of celebrities, Hollywood elite, royalty, diplomats, mafioso and lovable con artists at their favorite desert hideaway. As a raconteur, Haber has few equals. With this book, he finally lifts the velvet rope to give readers the best seat in the house, and enthralls them with witty stories about his black-tie clientèle.

These days you're likely to see Arnold Schwarzenegger and Maria Shriver, Sylvester Stallone, Cher, David Hasselhoff, Barry Manilow, Lance Bass, Kurt Russell and Goldie Hawn, Donald Trump and John Travolta enjoying themselves at the site. It remains one of the world's top dream resorts.

Haber feels his story should be an inspiration to everybody, because in his own words, “If I can make it, anybody can.”

Mel Haber is currently the owner of the Ingleside Inn and Melvyn's restaurant. He is also the president of the Angel View Crippled Children's Foundation and has served on its board for twenty-five years, the last fifteen as president. He resides in Rancho Mirage, California.

Palm Springs a la Carte (ISBN 978-1-56980-353-0) is published by Barricade Books and will be distributed through the National Book Network.