DEC4 Podcast George Fairbrother

In this episode we pay tribute to the last of Dad’s Army’s ‘Magnificent Seven’, Ian Lavender (Private Pike), who passed away on February 2nd, 2024, aged 77.





Leading UK television historian, publisher, author and podcaster, Oliver Crocker, joins us to share his thoughts on this very talented gentleman, and to recall his own memorable experience working with Ian Lavender on a segment for ITV’s This Morning.





Although Private Pike remains his most enduring and universally beloved creation, we also take a wider look at Ian Lavender’s remarkable career beyond Dad’s Army, encompassing television, radio, feature films and theatre.





There's more background, as well as images and links to further reading, viewing and listening, at this episode's webpage;

https://dec4podcast.com/2024/04/08/oliver-crocker-remembering-ian-lavender/




A note for our listeners: There are a couple of instances of in-context profanity during the podcast













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In this episode our leading contributor, Gary Wells (soulrideblog.com), joins us to take an in-depth look at the Winter Dance Party tour of early 1959, and explore what led up to a critical midtour decision to charter a light plane for a late night, 300 mile flight from Mason City, Iowa, to Fargo, North Dakota. Around five miles northwest of Mason City Airport the plane crashed on private farmland, killing the pilot, Roger Peterson, along with his three passengers, touring musicians Buddy Holly, Jiles Perry ‘The Big Bopper’ Richardson, and Ritchie Valens.



Drawing primarily from personal, first-hand accounts in a variety of credible sources, we examine how the hopelessly mismanaged tour came together, the inhuman travel conditions in ageing, inadequately maintained buses crisscrossing the frozen Midwest; a joyous night in Iowa during which around 1500 teenagers - and many parents - packed Clear Lake's Surf Ballroom, and the terrible chain of events that immediately followed.



We also look beyond mythology and cliché, and examine the longer term consequences of the tragedy with our focus on those most directly affected.



There's additional background, as well as detailed research notes and links to our sources, with some suggestions for further reference, at this episode's page at our podcast website.

https://dec4podcast.com/2024/02/23/gary-wells-the-winter-dance-party/









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In this clip compiled from our 2022 Beach Boys Book Club episode, with our leading contributor, Gary Wells (www.soulrideblog.com), we focus on Timothy White's wide-ranging 1994 biography, The Nearest Faraway Place: Brian Wilson, The Beach Boys and the Southern California Experience. Gary explains what sets this apart as more than just a rock and roll bio, we discuss Timothy White's assessment of family patriarch Murry Wilson, and how, in the early 1960s, emerging artists in Southern California transformed the corporatised music scene.



In the original 62 minute episode, we expand a little on Timothy White's distinguished career as a music writer and industry advocate (he sadly passed away in 2002, aged just 50), and provide some additional context from other sources on the Wilson family dynamic, on both a personal and business level. We also go on to discuss Mike Love's autobiography co-written by James S Hirsch, Good Vibrations: My Life as a Beach Boy, and take some additional context from I am Brian Wilson, by Brian himself and Ben Greenman, both from 2016. We also try to get to grips with why Mike can be such a polarising figure within the fan universe and beyond.



Some more background on this episode here;

https://dec4podcast.com/2024/01/02/gary-wells-clip-beach-boys-biographer-timothy-white-murry-wilson-and-the-legacy-of-pain/



Find the original episode here;

https://dec4podcast.com/2023/01/29/gary-wells-the-beach-boys-book-club/



 




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Our leading contributor, Gary Wells, joins us this episode to take a close look at Elvis' concert at the St Paul Civic Centre on April 30th, 1977, which was the subject of a devastating review in the St Paul Pioneer Press, by a very well regarded sports reporter named Charley Hallman. Many claims in the article are open to question, and it's an interesting chapter in the saga of Elvis and Colonel Parker's relationship, or deliberate lack thereof, with local press while on tour.



In a pre-internet and social media age, with no other available context or information, these reviews tended to be taken at face value, many have been quoted as authoritative sources in subsequent biographies and have, for better or worse, become the definitive account. We consider whether or not it was Colonel Parker's own policy of keeping the press at arm's length that left them open to misrepresentation and misunderstanding, accidental or otherwise.



Gary gives us his thoughts on the show based on an unofficial recording (available on our podcast website) and we then look in detail at the Pioneer Press review. We also examine some other unwelcome publicity surrounding Elvis and the Colonel around this time.



We're delighted that supremely talented voiceover artist, Alistair McMillan, has joined us to read some of the background information.



Find additional background, concert audio and links to suggested further listening and reading at our podcast website;



https://dec4podcast.com/2023/10/07/elvis-and-the-press-st-paul-minnesota-april-1977/




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Oliver Crocker is one of Britain’s leading and most respected authors, historians, podcasters and publishers on classic British television, whose work on iconic productions like The Bill and All Creatures Great and Small is valued and appreciated as much by the creators as by the fans. He has put together something very special for us this episode, as we remember actor and playwright, Frank Williams, who passed away June 26th, 2022, just short of his 91st birthday.



Frank Williams is remembered with enormous fondness by generations of fans as Timothy Farthing, the perpetually exasperated Vicar in the BBC’s Dad’s Army; on television, radio, stage, and in two feature films separated by almost half a century. Victoria Wood once described Dad’s Army as ‘the most affectionately regarded comedy programme in the history of television’, and Frank Williams made his own unique contribution to that universal love for the programme in all its forms, the characters, and the actors who brought them to life.



Oliver joins us to share some personal memories of this incredibly talented, generous and exceedingly kind gentleman, and has also gifted us some very special audio from his own personal archive, of Mr Williams himself, reminiscing about the adventures and misadventures of a working actor from his earliest theatre and film roles, to pioneering and undoubtedly terrifying live-to-air television drama and, of course, Dad’s Army. We also learn about his real life role with the General Synod of the Church of England, and his final, emotional onstage appearance in the West End in 2021, celebrating his 90th birthday.



Huge thanks to Oliver for producing and presenting this special tribute especially for us. Find out more, including some additional background, research notes and links, at our website:

https://dec4podcast.com/2023/06/26/oliver-crocker-remembering-frank-williams/








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In this episode we sample a clip from our Beach Boys Book Club conversation, as our leading contributor Gary Wells tells us how he and an accomplice managed to find themselves backstage at an early 1990s Beach Boys concert in Canada, chatting to Mike, Al and Carl. It’s a little comical, poignant, and slightly eccentric at various moments, but it’s a great story with some treasured memories.



We also recommend a conversation between Gary and singer and actress, Donna Loren, to be found at her Love's a Secret Weapon Podcast, and in our post-credits segment, we recall a light-hearted look at Elvis' encounter with the Mayor of Roanoke, VA, in a memorable scene from Elvis on Tour, and which featured in Part One of our Aloha From Hawaii series.



Some more background, research notes and relevant links at our website;

https://dec4podcast.com/2023/05/06/gary-wells-clip-backstage-with-the-beach-boys-donna-loren/



Special thanks to Gary for sharing his Beach Boys adventure with us. In the original episode, we discuss some important and fascinating books on the Beach Boys - The Nearest Faraway Place: Brian Wilson, the Beach Boys, and the Southern California Experience (1994), by Timothy White, and Good Vibrations: My Life as a Beach Boy (2016), by Mike Love with James S Hirsch. For a little additional context, we also refer to I am Brian Wilson, (2016) written by Brian himself with Ben Greenman.



Find the original Beach Boys Book Club episode here;

https://dec4podcast.com/2023/01/29/gary-wells-the-beach-boys-book-club/




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