Greetings dear ones,
What a grand few days I’ve had!
This is going to take me a few paragraphs.
First, I skooted down to the Big Apple in time to see the amazing Tony Shalhoub in the fantastic remake of “Golden Boy” on Broadway. Tony is a chameleon, he can turn himself into any and all kinds of different persona and his transformation into an Italian immigrant father was spellbinding. He’s an exceptional artist.
After the show we got a chance to stand on the stage (wow by the way) and congratulate him and the rest of the cast for their amazing and moving performances. I say if you get a chance to see Tony on stage, take it!
Next stops were New Jersey. I love New Jersey! First we went to Stanhope to a fabulous restaurant/venue called Salt. They serve up delicious food! The natives are friendly! The stage is sweet and they deliver up great shows, if I do say so myself. On this night, I got to join my pals from the Peter Asher band who were backing up the delightful Denny Laine. Besides playing a good number of Denny’s hits from the Moody Blues and Wings, the band played the entire two sides of “Abbey Road”. There is nothing like hearing the songs of the Beatles live.
I got to sing 3 or 4 numbers, including on some of those Beatles tunes. If Denny ever comes to your town, go see him, he’s the real deal. And of course it is of utmost importance that you come hear me whenever I get to anywhere near you.
The next show was in Asbury Park! Asbury Park I tell you! This same cast of characters took this show to McLoone’s right on the beach. The venue is fabulous, it’s in an old Howard Johnson’s. Wait, this last sentence deserves an exclamation point! The room is circular, the crowd is enthusiastic and flush, the producers of the event darling and may I say adorable, and the band was hot! We had a special added guest, Peter Asher! He sang a couple of Peter and Gordon hits and had the crowd on their feet. Denny was spectacular and I now see that this is “as usual”!
We had fun! After the show we were escorted by our host, Sammy Boyd, over to the famous venue down the street called The Stone Pony. Hallowed halls! There we heard a fantastic local Asbury Park soul band that completely rocked the house, and then wham! We were treated to a couple of numbers by one of our heart throb crooners of the ’60′s, Bobby Rydell. He sang Wildwood Days (perfect for the Jersey shore) and Volare (perfect for everywhere). The crowd went nuts! This was 1:00 in the morning and the indefatigable Bobby Rydell, 70 years old, bowled them over. This just 6 months after he has had liver and kidney transplants. What!? Amazing.
But wait; there’s more! A day of rest and then on to the Iridium in Times Square where I had the great good fortune to have been invited to join my first manager and producer Peter Asher on his Memoirs show. This man has had his finger on the pulse of our musical heart beats for 50 years, right in the thick of all we hold dear. And, little me got to step into his show at the point in his storytelling where we first met, and sing a couple of numbers. I did “Country Comfort”, the Elton John tune I recorded with Peter producing, on the “Sister Kate” album. And then Peter and I did a duet of “It’s in His Kiss”, the song I recorded with brother James on my subsequent album (“Kate Taylor”). Peter has produced this tune with other gal singers, most successfully with Cher for the movie Mermaids. His band and he certainly can rock this number and I am all too willing and happy to jump in front of that freight train and rip.
Peter had two shows on that Sunday, one at 3:00 and one at 8:00. We finished up around 10:30 and my friend Nick and I went over to the Port Authority and jumped on the 1:30 am Greyhound to Washington DC.
We landed in our nation’s capital at around 6:00 am. We collected ourselves at pal Ellen’s office near Union Station, and then hoofed it over to the capital to catch the second swearing in. Here’s a link to a song I have recorded about the first swearing in and other important things:
Check it out!
So, we sat in our sun lit chairs for 2.5 hours, happily anticipating the events unfolding in front of us. There was a huge crowd, and I’d say that the predominate feeling in the crowd, besides joy, was relief. AAAHHHH! The pagentry, the ceremony, the levity and gravitas. And the fantastic performance by Brother James singing “America the Beautiful”! Does it get any better than this dear people? Oh my, he nailed it! Having your own brother sandwiched between the swearing in of the Vice President and the swearing in of our President. No, it doesn’t get any better than this.
While we were waiting for the festivities to begin there was a lot of smiling and glad handing with the folks in the neighboring chairs. At one point I looked to my right and who should I see but the dazzling Katy Perry and her arm candy extraordinaire, John Mayer. What a vision. These two are gorgeous!
But, nothing can top our President with his left hand on the Bible and his right hand up, making the pledge to uphold the Constitution and keep us all safe. And then to hear his soaring oratory in the sweep of our nation’s magnificent Capital building! It’s all so special.
After a bit of viewing of the parade of Americans from all over our land, we settled in for a night of rest and then on the bus again and homeward bound.
I am one lucky so and so. One very lucky so and so, wouldn’t you agree dear ones?
All my love,
Kate
