Retro Redux: The Romantic Side Of Jackie Gleason

When I was a kid, perched on the floor in front of our old black and white TV, one of the shows we regularly watched starred a rotund gentleman with a cocky manner and a loud, abrasive voice. At the beginning of every show, he'd roll his eyes and say, "and awa-a-aay we go!". That was a signal that the fun was on, and we were soon watching little sketches featuring some of his regular alter egos, such as Reginald Van Gleason or the Poor Soul.

Jackie Gleason had a lot of comedic talent, and at that time in America when things were a little less "PC", he could often make a lot of people laugh with those characters and some even edgier ones. Joe the bartender was one, and his conversations with the drunken Crazy Guggenheim were funny because in those days we weren't thinking about whether Crazy had a designated driver. And probably the best known edgy guy of all, Ralph Kramden, the Brooklyn bus driver who often promised to punch his wife "right to the moon". It proved to be so popular as a sketch on the original show that it became an independent spin-off.

I laughed until I cried, but at the time I had no idea that there was another side to Jackie Gleason. He'd had a very difficult and poverty-stricken childhood, and was known to be loud, boorish, and tough to work for, but there was a softer side to him. It wasn't until years later that I learned that he had a strong affinity for lush romantic music, and he followed that muse by producing many best-selling albums. He wasn't a trained musician, but he had strong roots in the appreciation of jazz and he wrote music (transcribed by others), directed orchestras, and produced a lot of gorgeous stuff.

Article Author: Big Geez

Big Geez is a retiree who takes time off from trimming his ear hair to write about music -- sometimes doing conventional reviews, but often just sharing his opinions about how something resonates with his memories and those of his generation. …

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