My Favorite Links
Bob and Ray
Terrific site devoted to the greatest, sublest, most hilarious radio comedy team ever. Articles, pictures, interviews — oh yes, and you can order the CDs, too. This is essential stuff.
Charles Ives Society
My favorite composer. Ives’s uniquely American vision is composed of equal parts of forging news paths in music — often to discordant effect — and a gentle nostalgia for the hymns and popular tunes of the past. There’s no one like him and his music lives deep in my heart.
And so does the voice of John McCormack, one of the greatest tenors ever. He was a wonderful singer of opera but I have a particular fondness for his sentimental Irish ballads. If you can listen to some of these songs without tearing up a bit, you have no heart.
Leonard Maltin’s Movie Crazy
A wonderful site about movies by a guy who knows and loves them as well or better than almost anyone — and one of the nicest guys around. “Movie Crazy” is also available as a newsletter and I highly recommend that you subscribe to it even if you check out the online version regularly. Both are, at least in my house, indispensible.
Mike Boldt
Another pal of mine — musician, artist, Alamo fanatic, movie fan and more. And he and his beautiful wife Nancy live in one of the greatest houses ever. Lots of fun pictures and links to his music.
Mike Durrett at Humor.com
Humor column from one of the funniest guys I know — and also one of my best friends. Which disproves the rumor that I’m too insecure to hang out with people funnier than me.
P. G. Wodehouse Society
Site dedicated to the greatest writer of humor — and hence, one of the greatest writers, period — who ever lived. If you don’t know Wodehouse, pick up one of his books and prepare for your world to change.
Playset Magazine
I’ve loved Marx playsets since I was a kid. I have a few now but am too poor to really collect them. This magazine, with its color photos and in-depth articles, gives me a chance to enjoy those wonderful toys — even if they aren’t on my shelf. If you were ever a kid, you’ll love this magazine.
Spensarium
Fun page devoted to Robert B. Parker, author of the “Spenser” series — and now the “Jesse Stone” and “Sunny Randall” series. I often miss Boston and Parker’s witty, hard-boiled fiction takes me back there.
Tupper Saussy
One of my musical idols and one of the most fascinating guys you’ll ever meet or hear about — a brilliant musician, artist and author.
Al Kooper
Another of my early heroes. I discovered “Blood, Sweat and Tears” when I was a senior in high school and its mixture of jazz, soul and pop were just what I needed at the time. And when Kooper’s solo albums followed, I was hooked. This man is part of the bedrock of rock and roll and I’ve admired him nearly all of my life.
The Windmill Group
My pal Thomas W. Holland had the great idea of publishing the great toy pages from Sears and Montgomery Ward catalogs. These books are filled with great pictures of wonderful toys, games and even kids’ clothing from the Fifties, Sixties and Seventies. His site also offers the Alamo tapes he and I produced together.