Ellington composed score in U. P.

Actor Jimmy Stewart, left, and jazz great Duke Ellington
play the piano together during a scene from "Anatomy of a Murder,"
filmed entirely in the Upper Peninsula in 1959.

By STEVE SEYMOUR

Although music genius Duke Ellington recorded prolifically for decades, he composed his first movie soundtrack in the Upper Peninsula.

Ellington was on location in 1959 when "Anatomy of a Murder" was filmed at various locations in Marquette County, including Big Bay, Ishpeming, Marquette and Michigamme.

Before it was a motion picture and record album, "Anatomy of a Murder" was a best-selling novel by Ishpeming native John D. Voelker, who wrote under the pen name Robert Traver. Voelker, who died in 1991, was also well-known as an attorney, Michigan Supreme Court Justice and fly fisherman.

"Anatomy of a Murder" author John D. Voelker, left, and actor Jimmy Stewart enjoy a cigar on the movie set in 1959.

Producer/director Otto Preminger turned the book into an award-winning motion picture. Running two hours and 40 minutes, "Anatomy of a Murder" is a compelling courtroom drama.

While the movie impressed theater audiences, the soundtrack was equally striking.

Preminger had commissioned Ellington, probably the 20th century's greatest jazz musician, to compose an original score.

The jazz master had written short pieces for the movies, but this was his first (and only) full-length soundtrack.

Ellington arrived in Marquette County early in the morning on April 29, 1959, his 60th birthday.

He met Preminger for breakfast at the Mather Inn in Ishpeming, where Ellington was booked to stay, along with many of the picture's cast.

The Mather Inn

That evening Preminger hosted a birthday bash for Ellington at the popular Roosevelt Supper Club.

Ellington remembered the party in an audio interview promoting "Anatomy of a Murder": "They had a birthday dinner for me at the Roosevelt in Ishpeming and party, candles on the cakes, and everything else. It was wonderful. It's been a real great experience."

In coming weeks, Ellington composed much of the score at the Mather, which was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1978.

Besides composing and recording the soundtrack, Ellington had a small cameo appearance as the owner of a road house.

In the scene, which took place at the Mount Shasta Lodge in Michigamme, Ellington's character, Pie Eye, plays piano with defense lawyer (and jazz aficionado) Paul Biegler, portrayed by Jimmy Stewart.

In addition to Stewart, the outstanding cast included newcomer Lee Remick, Ben Gazzara, Eve Arden, Arthur O'Connell, George C. Scott and Orson Bean.

Preminger brought a crew of 150 to Marquette for eight weeks of filming.

Adding excitement to the project, Preminger hired 300 locals as extras. Some had speaking roles.

Ellington composed the score while the black & white legal drama was being filmed, much of it at the Marquette County courthouse.

Shooting for "Anatomy of a Murder" concluded on May 16.

His soundtrack includes titles such as "Midnight Indigo," "Flirtibird," "Happy Anatomy," and "Windswept Sunday," among others.

Stewart's theme song is called "Polly," after his character's first name, while "Flirtibird" is the musical background for Remick.

Ellington commented on the latter song in the same interview: "Well, I saw the rushes the first Sunday in Ishpeming and then the minute I saw her (Remick) there leaning against that car I knew that I was on the right track
(with 'Flirtibird'). She absolutely appeared to be, you know, sort of flirting all the time which could easily be mistaken by someone and it was."

Composer Billy Strayhorn also contributed to the project.

The long-playing record album includes 13 tracks from the motion picture. Stereo and mono singles were also issued by Columbia in 1959.

Recording sessions for the album were held at Radio Recorders in California on May 29, June 1 and June 2. Days later Ellington engaged his orchestra in separate recordings for the movie, which appeared under the Columbia Pictures banner.

The recordings feature standout performances by members of the Duke Ellington Orchestra, including Johnny Hodges, Paul Gonsalves, Ray Nance, Clark Terry and Harry Carney.

The original recordings were produced by Irving Townsend.

After recording with his orchestra, Ellington embarked on the U. S. summer jazz festival circuit and traveled to Europe later in the year.

World premiere for the movie was held at United Artists Theater in Detroit on July 1, 1959, with many of the major stars attending. The picture was nominated for six Academy Awards.

The Butler Theater in Ishpeming also hosted a premiere showing of the film.

Among the first major movies to feature a jazz soundtrack, "Anatomy of a Murder" was also acknowledged by the recording industry.

Ellington was honored with three Grammys on Nov. 29, 1959, during the the organization's second annual awards ceremony. He won as a composer for best soundtrack album as well as for best musical composition. The third Grammy lauded Ellington as an artist for best performance by a dance band.

The story of Ellington, who has over 2,000 compositions to his credit, is virtually the history of jazz in America. Born in 1899, Edward Kennedy "Duke" Ellington was a giant on the jazz scene from the early 1920's until his death in 1974.

While "Anatomy of a Murder" is recognized as a great movie closely reflecting its U. P. origins, many people don't realize the score was integral to the film's success.

Actually, I'm not alone in believing Ellington's soundtrack can stand alone as a virtuoso performance by America's greatest jazz composer and bandleader.

Many jazz musicologists, including famed trumpeter Wynton Marsalis, are convinced Ellington conceived and recorded a jazz masterpiece.

Beatles' debut film satisfied fans

WLUC-TV in Marquette distributed this picture
of the Beatles featured in the final scene of "A Hard
day's Night."

By STEVE SEYMOUR

Besides being prolific in the recording studio, the Beatles released four movies, with their debut effort perhaps the most influential.

The classic "A Hard Day's Night" attracted millions of young people eager to see the British rockers on celluloid.

Delivered to theaters in the summer of 1964, the 88-minute movie was a low-budget production, filmed in black & white.

Believing the Beatles were a passing fad, promoters put $500,000 into the film they feared the public would forget about in a matter of weeks.

I was disappointed the movie wasn't in color, but everything else about "A Hard Day's Night" struck a chord in me.

Viewers were treated to witty dialog, a handful of new songs and the antics of John, Paul, George and Ringo set to the back drop of "Beatlemania," the real-life hysteria surrounding the group.

The movie was a hit everywhere it played including the Delft Theater in downtown Escanaba, where it made several return engagements.

The Delft Theater in Marquette even had custom tickets printed when "A Hard Day's Night" premiered there on Friday, Sept. 4, 1964.

No matter where the picture was shown, girls screamed when the Beatles' images first appeared on the big screen.

After the show, the youthful crowd burst from the theater doors ready to buy a Beatles record or even start a rock band.

My fascination with "A Hard Day's Night" continued long after it disappeared from theaters.

In 1972, I felt compelled to buy a volume of four movie scripts, including "A Hard Day's Night," so I could learn everything possible about the Beatles' movie debut.

"Film Scripts Four," published by Appleton Century Crofts, may have been aimed at film students, but certainly contained the details I sought.

A Proscenium Films production, "A Hard Day's Night" was released in the United States by United Artists.

Work on the film had actually started in the fall of 1963, before most people in the U. S. had ever heard or heard of the Beatles.

The cast, of course, is headed by John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr, who play themselves.

The Beatles perform their songs as a group in the film, but are also portrayed as individual personalities, perhaps laying the basis for their eventual solo careers.

Produced by Walter Shenson, the film was directed by Richard Lester from a original screenplay by Alun Owen.

Originally, the script was assigned the unimaginative title "The Beatles."

The plot was simple: The Beatles must get to a big television show while Paul tries to keep his Irish grandfather, portrayed by Wilfrid Brambell, from getting into mischief. John, meanwhile, tests the nerves of a frazzled TV director, George is mistaken as a potential cast member on a hip youth program, and Ringo plays hooky, getting into some trouble himself. All the while, hordes of screaming fans complicate the situation.

Pattie Boyd and Phil Collins were both cast as fans in the movie. Then 19, Boyd met Harrison and married him the following year. Although Collins' scenes were cut, the teenager would later gain fame as drummer for the rock band Genesis with a hugely successful solo career to follow.

As director, Lester was given the task of getting his project into theaters as quickly as possible.

Filming commenced in early March, just eight days after the Beatles returned from their first visit to the U. S.

By the time filming was to begin, the Beatles had become international superstars.

Seeing a larger audience for the movie, the studio considered increasing the film's budget, but in the end the financing remained unchanged.

Despite their busy schedules, the Beatles had already recorded "I Should Have Known Better," "If I Fell," "I'm Happy Just to Dance With You," "And I Love Her," "Tell Me Why" and "Can't Buy Me Love" for the still-unnamed film.

Starr is credited with uttering the phrase which became the title of the motion picture, but when it was announced to the press, the song "A Hard Day's Night" did not yet exist.

Consequently, Lennon composed the song to order. The Beatles recorded "A Hard Day's Night" during a three-hour session at Abbey Road's Studio Two on April 16, 1964.

The theme song is heard at the beginning of the movie and as orchestral bits in the score.

Advertisements promised fans a "hilarious, action packed film."

Television station WLUC in Marquette even distributed a promotional photo of the Beatles, identical to the one dropped from the helicopter in the motion picture's final scene. The photo was mailed to fans of the "Darby O'Six" program, hosted by Roy Peterson.

The soundtrack album was released in Britain on July 10, with side one containing the seven songs from the movie and the flip side six more new songs. The album is the only LP to feature strictly Lennon-McCartney compositions.

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The American version of the album boasted the seven tracks from the movie, "I'll Cry Instead" and four George Martin orchestral arrangements from the movie.

"A Hard Day's Night" received two Oscar nominations and set the standard for modern music videos.

The film was a huge success and led to three more motion pictures starring the Beatles. Lester directed "Help!" in 1965, presented in technicolor. The animated "Yellow Submarine" appeared in 1968 and the documentary "Let It Be" reached theaters in 1970.

When "A Hard Day's Night" was finally re-released on the VHS format, I picked up a copy for home viewing.

An upgraded DVD version was issued by Miramax in 2002, with a second disc of bonus material.

When I watched the film not long ago, it seemed fresh and vibrant, the Beatles young and irreverent.

While "A Hard Day's Night" remains a great experience, I still wish the movie company would have sprung for color.

Cooper aces new stage show

Alice Cooper points his microphone toward the
audience during his July 9 gig at the Island Resort
and Casino in Harris.

By STEVE SEYMOUR

After four decades in the business, Alice Cooper is telling his own iconic story in the spectacular "Theatre of Death" show.

Cooper brought his fresh concert program to the Upper Peninsula for three shows at the Island Resort & Casino in Harris last weekend.

The 62-year-old Cooper has been attracting fans since his band unleashed "I'm Eighteen" back in 1971.

Besides the seven long-players released by the Alice Cooper band, Cooper has issued 18 studio albums as a solo artist.

Fans have come to expect bizarre stage antics from Cooper, the first person to combine movie-like horror imagery with rock music.

He's been perfecting his brand of shock-rock since the early 1970s.

Still, Cooper is a born again Christian and a political conservative, but refuses to mix those topics with his music.

He beat alcoholism decades ago and helps fellow rockers with addiction, if they seek his help.

The various phases of Cooper's career provide the fodder for his stage show which presents an array of lights, props, costumes and of course, music.

While Cooper remains the focus of the concert, he gets some animated support from guitarists Damon Johnson and Keri Kelli, bassist Chuck Garric and drummer Jimmy DeGrasso.

Tiffany Lowe is also prominent in the production as a dancer, actor and singer.

Cooper credited director and long-time fan Robert Jess Roth with the "Theatre of Death" concept.

Song lyrics tell Cooper's story in four segments, with each version of Alice being killed so a new Alice can emerge.

Before the show, the stage was highlighted by a giant depiction of Cooper on a tapestry designed especially for the tour.

As my wife Sue and I settled into our seats for the July 9 gig, the "Theatre of Death" logo dropped as Cooper opened the show with "School's Out."

Cooper belted out an abbreviated version of the anthem, a Top Ten hit from the summer of 1972, as the audience sang along and snapped pictures on their cellphones.

Standing for the duration, the crowd responded with equal enthusiasm to "No More Mr. Nice Guy," a smash from 1973.

He followed with "Eighteen," the breakout hit from the era when Alice Cooper was the name of the band, not just the lead singer.

The vocalist used a crutch made of bones as a prop during the song.

Posing as a delinquent, Cooper sang "Wicked Young Man" bound in a straitjacket, and was brought to his end at a guillotine during "Ballad of Dwight Fry."

The next phase of the concert featured "Go To Hell" and "Guilty." Lowe appeared on stage in a nurse's uniform as the subject of "Cold Ethyl."

"Poison," Cooper's Top Ten from 1989, continued the segment, while Cooper received a lethal injection from the nurse as "From the Inside" ended.

Cooper delivered "Nurse Rozetta" from a wheelchair, which preceded "Be My Lover," another hit from 1972.

Next, the band slowed the pace for two songs.

Cooper's plea against domestic violence, "Only Women Bleed," was performed as the murdered Rozetta lay across his lap.

The singer was left hanging from the gallows at the conclusion of "I Never Cry," a smash hit from 1976.

An instrumental titled "Black Widow" followed, allowing the band to get some spotlight time in Cooper's temporary absence.

Cooper performed "Vengeance Is Mine" from an elevated platform and tossed necklaces into the crowd during "Dirty Diamonds."

The singer illustrated 1973's "Billion Dollar Babies" by waving a saber spiked with bogus $100 bills picturing Cooper's portrait.

At the end of "Killer," Cooper was dispatched in an iron maiden, a medieval torture device.

An excerpt from "I Love the Dead" followed while Cooper returned for "Feed My Frankenstein," which included a walk-on by an eight-foot-tall Cyclopes.

The players left the stage after "Under My Wheels," another track from the "Killer" LP issued in 1972.

Cooper returned for an encore dressed as flag-waving Uncle Sam to deliver "Elected" and a reprise of "School's Out" to bring the concert full circle.

The singer kept the excitement level high as he tossed giant confetti-filled balloons over the crowd and pierced them with his sword.

All told, Cooper packed 24 songs into a riveting, if ghoulish, 90-minute set.

The crowd, of course, loved it.

Cooper's fans have always wanted an over-the-top theatrical show and the veteran rocker didn't disappoint.

The audience ranged in age from youngsters to people approaching retirement, many wearing Alice Cooper T-shirts.

Michael Latterman of Manistique planned to see all three local shows, including one on his 19th birthday. "This will make singing 'I'm Eighteen' a little weird," he said.

The show may have been the most elaborate production Sue and I had ever seen at the Harris venue.

Born in Detroit as Vincent Furnier, Cooper is known for more than his fright-filled concerts.

He's an occasional actor and hosts a nationally-syndicated classic rock radio program, "Nights With Alice Cooper," broadcast on WIMK-FM in Iron Mountain.

When he's not performing, golf is one of Cooper's favorite pastimes.

He even wrote an autobiography, "Alice Cooper, Golf Monster," explaining how the sport helped him overcome an addiction to alcohol.

While golfers rarely see a hole in one on the links, Alice Cooper easily scored one with his new concert extravaganza.

Alice Cooper Photo Album

J. Geils Band bookends year

The J. Geils Band earned a reputation as a top-notch
live act in the early1970s.

By STEVE SEYMOUR

My senior year at Central Michigan University began and ended with the J. Geils Band.

Just weeks after I returned to the Mount Pleasant campus for the fall semester, the powerhouse Boston-based outfit unleashed their "Full House" long-player.

The dynamic live album quickly became a favorite around Herrig Hall and indeed around the country.

Although I was busy studying journalism and political science, one important lesson I learned was that if you wanted to start a party, play the new J. Geils Band record.

When you did, singer Peter Wolf, harp player "Magic Dick" Salwitz and guitarist J. (short for Jerome) Geils would leap from the speakers.

Before you knew it, you had an instant party.

Actually, the band, which included keyboardist Seth Justman, bassist Daniel Klein and drummer Stephen Jo. Bladd, had been throwing parties for years.

One of their best took place just down the road at Detroit's Cinderella Ballroom before nearly 2,000 fans on April 21 and 22, 1972.

For the show, the band played material from their first two albums: a self-titled effort and another called "The Morning After."

Stanley the Mad Hatter announced the program which also included Dr. Hook and the Medicine Show.

Atlantic Records taped the festivities, pressed up scads of albums, and the J. Geils Band had a hit on their hands with their third release.

Nevermind that all the songs came from their first two discs and that the album clocked in at less than 33 minutes in length.

Months passed as the J. Geils toured the country to promote their live album and record songs for a follow-up.

Back at CMU, J. Geils still spent time on the turntable, but my roommate and I decided to increase the party sweepstakes by going on spring break.

In March, we made a sleepless 24-hour trip to Daytona Beach, then the country's bullseye for college kids looking to let off a little steam.

Exhausted by another day-long drive, we returned to Mount Pleasant as the final months of our college careers wound down.

Then, as we were readying ourselves to face the cold cruel world, some bright yellow posters sprung up on campus.

Those broadsheets announced the impending local appearance of none other than the J. Geils Band!

There would be one last shindig with one of the greatest live bands ever before we marched into the work-a-day world.

Anticipation grew as the concert, scheduled for Tuesday, April 10, 1973 at Finch Fieldhouse, approached.

Designed by Erv P. Lewandowski of Mountainrush Graphics, the poster carried a collage of band images and pertinent details.

The event was sponsored by student radio station WCHP and the college's Program Board.

Opening act was Gentle Giant, recently on tour with fellow Britishers Jethro Tull, but relatively unknown in the United States.

On the day of the show, the venue where the Chippewas played their basketball games filled quickly with eager fans paying $3.50 or $4.50 for the evening.

J. Geils and his bandmates traveled to Mount Pleasant from Hillsdale College where they had a gig the previous evening.

Entertainment started with the progressive rock sounds of Gentle Giant.

The quintet, formed in 1970, was known to stretch the boundaries of contemporary music with complex jazz, classical and folk elements.

They were touring to support their "Octopus" album, delivered in late 1972.

Gentle Giant's serious, even studious music didn't sit well with an audience looking for a good time, however.

The fun had to wait until the headliners showed up with their "party all-night" agenda.

On stage, the J. Geils Band looked like greasers, dressed in leather, with their hair slicked back.

At this late date, it's impossible to construct an exact setlist, but the J. Geils Band certainly played most of "Full House."

I had that album memorized. Side One: "First I Look at the Purse," "Homework," "Pack Fair and Square," and "Whammer Jammer." Side 2: "Hard Drivin' Man," "Serves You Right to Suffer," "Cruisin' for a Love" and "Looking for a Love."

The latter track was even a Top 40 hit in early 1972.

Besides the familiar material on "Full House," the band had an arsenal of great tunes. There was the show opener "Sno-Cone" by bluesman Albert Collins and originals like "Floyd's Hotel," "I Don't Need You No More," "Wait" and "Cry One More Time," written by Wolf and Justman.

The week of the CMU show coincided with the release of "Bloodshot," the band's fourth album, which opened with the infectious "(Ain't Nothin' But A) House Party."

"Give It To Me," a single released a few weeks previously became a lengthy reggae-flavored jam in concert.

"Must of Got Lost" may have fit into the setlist, too.

As you might have expected, the band's energetic performance soon had the audience in a frenzy.

Wolf dominated the stage, Geils played lead guitar licks while on his knees and Magic Dick impressed everyone with his prominent harmonica chops.

The crowd sang, danced, clapped and stomped along.

Acknowledging the roar of fans as the show ended, the six band members formed a pyramid on stage, just like a cheer squad.

The next day it was back to classes for the final weeks of the semester, but the sounds of the J. Geils Band continued to reverberate.

In coming years they achieved great success, even reaching No. 1 with "Centerfold" in the early 1980s.

They broke up after Wolf left for a solo career, although there have been several reunions since.

Still, what I remember most about the J. Geils Band is how they neatly encapsulated my last year in college with a dynamite album at the beginning, followed by an explosive live concert at the end.