There was Nothing Button-Down about Bob Newhart Except for the Titles of His Wildly Popular LPs
Manage episode 475421877 series 3554502
In 1961, Bob Newhart won a Grammy for Album of the Year for his first album, "The Button-Down Mind of Bob Newhart," which topped the Billboard album chart for 14 weeks. His second album, "The Button-Down Mind Strikes Back," was rushed out and reached number two on the Billboard chart.
The 1987 photo in this episode's thumbnail was taken by Alan Light, CC BY 2.0, and is available on Wikimedia Commons. In the chapters, you'll see the cover of "The Button-Down Mind Strikes Back."
To listen to "Retirement Party" from Newhart's second album, you can go to this YouTube video. The well-known comedy bit "The Grace L. Ferguson Airline (And Storm Door Co.)," also from his second album, is available here. And to listen to his first album, go to this video, which includes the very funny "Nobody Will Ever Play Baseball."
This tribute is one of 41 stories that Sheldon Zoldan, a longtime journalist, has written and recorded in honor of the music notables who passed away in 2024. He's written tributes for other years as well. You can listen to the ones from 2023 on Everyday Creation. We'll have the 2022 tributes available later this year.
Sheldon also is the creator of Song of the Day, a story that he sends by email to a list of subscribers. To get on his subscriber list, email [email protected] with the subject line ADD ME TO SOTD.
This is Kate Jones. Thank you for listening to Everyday Creation, available on YouTube and in podcast directories including Apple, Audible, iHeart and Spotify.
Chapters
1. Grammy winner on his first try (00:00:00)
2. Not exactly the accountant type (00:00:30)
3. His comedic breakthrough (00:00:52)
4. The first "Button-Down Mind" (00:01:28)
5. And then a second hit (00:01:43)
6. Closing remarks (00:02:05)
128 episodes