Episode 381. I Got a Name (Pride Edition)
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At first blush, this episode may look a bit slapdash, but it actually reflects very much where I am at this moment. It’s got a bit more of a narrative than most of my episodes do, and somehow in this story a number of different strands come together. The starting point was a Pride bonus episode I published in June 2024 exploring a rare and fascinating 1964 LP of a live recital by “female impersonator” (Mr.) Jean Fredericks that also somehow folded into the mix hidden family narratives, Gilbert Godfrey, Charles Fox, Jim Croce, and the song “I Got a Name.” I have taken that episode and both streamlined and expanded it, including memorial tributes to four significant artists who have died in the past several weeks: Connie Francis, Tom Lehrer, Cleo Laine, and (just yesterday) Robert Wilson. I talk much more about myself on this episode than I ever have before, including meditations on my conservative upbringing, my senior prom, and The Muppet Show! I’ve also included two additional performances of “I Got a Name” by Lena Horne and Cher which drive home the importance of carrying your name and your dream with pride. If I’ve ever published an artistic credo, this is it.
If, as I have done, you wish to explore and/or support J.D. Doyle and the Queer Music Heritage website, where I first discovered Jean Fredericks, you can find it (and him) at www.queermusicheritage.com.
RECORDINGS HEARD IN THIS EPISODE
Neil Sedaka [French words by Robert Chabrier]: Je sais qu’un gars. Connie Francis, arranged and conducted Stan Applebaum [1961]
Burt Bacharach, Hal David: Wanting Things. Connie Francis, arranged and conducted by Claus Ogerman [1968]
Ramsete [Roberto] Ciampi: Ho bisogno di vederti. Connie Francis, Orchestra Gianfranco Intra [introduced by Mike Bongiorno, live San Remo 29.I.1965]
Tom Lehrer: National Brotherhood Week [introduced by Tom Lehrer; as heard on The Frost Report, BBC-TV 1966]
Tom Lehrer: So Long, Mom (A Song for World War III). Tom Lehrer [live Copenhagen IX.1967]
Tom Lehrer: I Got It from Agnes. Tom Lehrer [live London 06.VI.1998]
Anthony Newley, Leslie Bricusse: Feeling Good (The Road of the Greasepaint – The Smell of the Crowd). Cleo Laine, arranged and conducted John Dankworth [live BBC 1974]
Arnold Schoenberg, Albert Giraud [translated into German by Otto Erich Hartleben; English language version by Cecil Gray: Red Mass [Rote Messe] (Pierrot Lunaire, Op. 21/11) Cleo Laine, Elgar Howarth, Nash Ensemble [Marcia Crayford, Christopher van Kampen, Judith Pearce, Antony Pay, Clifford Benson] [1974]
David Gates: If. Cleo Laine, Orchestra conducted by Jack Parnell [as seen on The Muppet Show, first telecast 13.V.1978]
Rufus Wainwright, William Shakespeare [translated Christa Schuenke]: All dessen müd [Sonnet 66]. Christopher Nell, Rufus Wainwright, Jürgen Holtz, studio ensemble [2016]
Charles Fox, Norman Gimbel: I Got a Name. Jim Croce [live The Midnight Special 14.IX.73]
Charles Fox, Norman Gimbel: I Got a Name. Lena Horne, conducted by Jack Parnell [as seen on The Muppet Show, first telecast 30.X.1976]
Excerpts from Recitals Are a Drag. Mr. Jean Fredericks (countertenor, baritone, trombone), Brian Benedict (piano) [ca. 1964]
- Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart: Give Me Your Hand, My Darling (Don Giovanni)
- Arthur Sullivan, W.S. Gilbert: I’m Called Little Buttercup (H.M.S. Pinafore)
- George Frideric Handel: O sleep, why dost thou leave me? (Semele)
- Harold Arlen, Ted Koehler: Stormy Weather
- Thomas Arne, James Thomson: Rule, Brittania (Alfred)
- Shelton Brooks: Some of These Days
- Jule Styne, Stephen Sondheim: Everything’s Coming Up Roses (Gypsy)
- Giuseppe Verdi: Libiamo ne’ lieti calici (La Traviata)
- Jean Fredericks (with support and encouragement from Ernest MacMillan): Jack and Jill
Charles Fox, Norman Gimbel: I Got a Name. Cher, orchestra conducted by Marty Paich [as seen on The Sonny and Cher Comedy Hour, first telecast 06.III.1974]
