Neil Posted February 16, 2016 Report Share Posted February 16, 2016 Here's my little video: and yes, I have too much time on my hands! I had so much saxophone footage to choose from I put in an extra chorus of the sax section and bumped it up a key. By my count, she played the saxophone is 8 episodes spanning 34 years!: 3 from I Love Lucy, 1 from The Lucy Show, 3 from Here's Lucy and 1 from Life with Lucy. The 9th is from "Carol Burnett", though she's not actually playing in the 1919 segment of "The Rock Sisters". I tried to make it appear as if Lucy as Marilyn was descending the steps from the Carter's 2nd floor. Note that on the ILL episode she enters from the LEFT. It was very hard to get "Dancing Star" Lucy to disappear behind Symphony Conductor Lucy as she whirls around. Took all the toots, ukulele strumming and symphony orchestra chords and changed them into the key of C which is what the Nelson Riddle orchestra arrangement was in. I kept trying to incorporate ukulele strumming from "Ukulele Talk" ("Goes Hawaiian Part 2") but gave up. I just couldn't get the chords right. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mot Morenzi Posted February 16, 2016 Report Share Posted February 16, 2016 Here's my little video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wAtAwimBNDs and yes, I have too much time on my hands! I had so much saxophone footage to choose from I put in an extra chorus of the sax section and bumped it up a key. By my count, she played the saxophone is 8 episodes spanning 34 years!: 3 from I Love Lucy, 1 from The Lucy Show, 3 from Here's Lucy and 1 from Life with Lucy. The 9th is from "Carol Burnett", though she's not actually playing in the 1919 segment of "The Rock Sisters". I tried to make it appear as if Lucy as Marilyn was descending the steps from the Carter's 2nd floor. Note that on the ILL episode she enters from the LEFT. It was very hard to get "Dancing Star" Lucy to disappear behind Symphony Conductor Lucy as she whirls around. Took all the toots, ukulele strumming and symphony orchestra chords and changed them into the key of C which is what the Nelson Riddle orchestra arrangement was in. I kept trying to incorporate ukulele strumming from "Ukulele Talk" ("Goes Hawaiian Part 2") but gave up. I just couldn't get the chords right. WOW!!!!! Just....WOW!!!!! Brilliantly done sir! What a treat! Where did that fantastic arrangement of the theme song come from? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Luvsbway Posted February 16, 2016 Report Share Posted February 16, 2016 Neil this is your best yet. So much fun. She could really move. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brock Posted February 16, 2016 Report Share Posted February 16, 2016 As stated elsewhere, this is one of the most brilliant, thoughtful and fun things I have ever seen. Bravo! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Neil Posted February 16, 2016 Author Report Share Posted February 16, 2016 WOW!!!!! Just....WOW!!!!! Brilliantly done sir! What a treat! Where did that fantastic arrangement of the theme song come from? From the LP (turned CD) "Nelson Riddle and his Orchestra Play Top TV Themes". Judging by the other selections, it was 1963. This one is listed simply as "Lucy Theme". There's a portion that sounds like the TLS theme as played by the Desi Arnaz Orchestra. I got the sheet music published in England "as heard on the BBC series starring Lucille Ball and Gale Gordon." The chord progression of the tune is much more complex than it sounds. Of the 3 theme melodies, TLS is actually my favorite. (am not counting LWL's "Everyday")--and nothing against the ILL theme. I've never really cottoned to the HL theme as much. I don't know what inspired these TV theme song writers but this fit one TLS perfectly. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mot Morenzi Posted February 16, 2016 Report Share Posted February 16, 2016 From the LP (turned CD) "Nelson Riddle and his Orchestra Play Top TV Themes". Judging by the other selections, it was 1963. This one is listed simply as "Lucy Theme". There's a portion that sounds like the TLS theme as played by the Desi Arnaz Orchestra. I got the sheet music published in England "as heard on the BBC series starring Lucille Ball and Gale Gordon." The chord progression of the tune is much more complex than it sounds. Of the 3 theme melodies, TLS is actually my favorite. (am not counting LWL's "Everyday")--and nothing against the ILL theme. I've never really cottoned to the HL theme as much. I don't know what inspired these TV theme song writers but this fit one TLS perfectly. Agreed. I've always thought TLS had the prettiest melody of her three major shows. Especially the season 2 and 3 orchestration. Seasons 4 and 5 were a little flat, but season 6 beefed it up and made it gorgeous again. I've never been partial to the HL theme either, although the jazzy season 4 orchestration isn't half bad. As far as the ILL theme goes, I have to say I prefer the LDCH end credits orchestration to any version played on the half hour shows. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brock Posted February 16, 2016 Report Share Posted February 16, 2016 Agreed. I've always thought TLS had the prettiest melody of her three major shows. Especially the season 2 and 3 orchestration. Seasons 4 and 5 were a little flat, but season 6 beefed it up and made it gorgeous again. I've never been partial to the HL theme either, although the jazzy season 4 orchestration isn't half bad. As far as the ILL theme goes, I have to say I prefer the LDCH end credits orchestration to any version played on the half hour shows. Completely agree! 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JoeySanJoaquin Posted February 16, 2016 Report Share Posted February 16, 2016 Completely agree! Me three... and here I never would have thought anyone would agree with me! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Freddie2 Posted February 17, 2016 Report Share Posted February 17, 2016 Wondaful job Neil! I sent the video to my dad as he loves this sort of thing, and he asked me where the opening clip with Bob and Madelyn was from. I have no clue so I was wondering if you could fill us in? And ditto to the theme song talk above, but I'll add that the LWL theme always makes me feel like dancin'. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Neil Posted February 17, 2016 Author Report Share Posted February 17, 2016 Wondaful job Neil! I sent the video to my dad as he loves this sort of thing, and he asked me where the opening clip with Bob and Madelyn was from. I have no clue so I was wondering if you could fill us in? And ditto to the theme song talk above, but I'll add that the LWL theme always makes me feel like dancin'. The intro was from a Merv Griffin Show from 1981. Lucy had a long solo spot then Bob and Madelyn came out. I remembered there being a reference to "The Four Balls" on some show but it was our own Harry Carter that pin-pointed it. This track was called "Lucy Theme" and it came from the LP "Nelson Riddle and His Orchestra Play MORE Top TV Themes", the sequel album to the previous year's hit. This must have been released during the 62-63 season because the other selections include two one-season shows from that year: "Stoney Burke"& "I'm Dickens He's Fenster" and several that debuted that season "Lucy" "Hillbillies "Andy Williams (Moon River)"and "McHale's Navy" plus a few that ended that year "Have Gun Will Travel" and "Untouchables" 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
leenorman Posted February 17, 2016 Report Share Posted February 17, 2016 Me three... and here I never would have thought anyone would agree with me! I do, honey; AND, now we have gatherers, collectors, bookies, and writees!!!! What a team! 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Neil Posted February 17, 2016 Author Report Share Posted February 17, 2016 Agreed. I've always thought TLS had the prettiest melody of her three major shows. Especially the season 2 and 3 orchestration. Seasons 4 and 5 were a little flat, but season 6 beefed it up and made it gorgeous again. I've never been partial to the HL theme either, although the jazzy season 4 orchestration isn't half bad. As far as the ILL theme goes, I have to say I prefer the LDCH end credits orchestration to any version played on the half hour shows. The changes in the first 5 seasons of The Lucy Show's opening credits and theme orchestration arrangements are amazing. There aren't too many shows that did a complete overhaul of the opening every season (except for the last). Season 1 and 2 are a pretty straightforward presentation of the melody--although I could do without season 2 cheesy sound effects (Christopher Walken: "I want MORE cow bell!!"). The orchestrations for seasons 3, 4 and 5 (the short-lived Jack in Box) went hog-wild retaining very little of the original melody, but enough that it was recognizable. Very imaginative. I like the different arrangements of the Here's Lucy theme much more in seasons 4,5 and 6---could be because I like the episodes more. Were 4.5 and 6 all different from each other? Did it change at all from season 1,2 and 3? Wasn't it always that violin-plunking opening? And I agree with the preference for the arrangement of the ILL theme for the closing credits of LDCH: I love the way it starts out slowly and then kicks into the rhythm. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Freddie2 Posted February 17, 2016 Report Share Posted February 17, 2016 I always thought TLDCH closing music was more regal and momentous, like it should have been used for the ILL movie or something. (Not that the ILL movie was particularly regal or momentous) 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mmadluv7 Posted February 18, 2016 Report Share Posted February 18, 2016 OMG IM SPEECHLESS! THIS IS INCREDIBLE- JUST FASCINATING fun and unique in all its splendor! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JoeySanJoaquin Posted February 18, 2016 Report Share Posted February 18, 2016 I always thought TLDCH closing music was more regal and momentous, like it should have been used for the ILL movie or something. (Not that the ILL movie was particularly regal or momentous) 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Neil Posted February 18, 2016 Author Report Share Posted February 18, 2016 My all time favorite theme song was the very I Love Lucy-like melody for the very Lucy Show-like show "Pete and Gladys" (including Gale Gordon as her nemisis!) which many people refer to as the Lucy-comedy gap-filler for those 2 non-Lucy years 60-61 and 61-62. (though her "new" product output for the 59-60 season was a scant 3 hours. ) Pete and Gladys was on Mondays at 8 both seasons and was not renewed for the 62 season. Instead CBS stripped the 78 episodes Monday-Friday for 2 full years. As I've said many times before, Cara Williams came closer to the real thing than any other "new Lucille Ball", a phrase used for a lot of ladies debuting in new comedies---including Debbie Reynolds! Had P&G had more continuity, been filmed in front of an audience and had better scripts overall, it could have been a hit. I don't think the P&G episodes uploaded to youtube are the best ones. But nobody--NOBODY--has kind words to say about working with Cara. Later in her TV career, writers would refer to her three series as having run back to back ignoring those two years. The 1974 TV Guide article about her decision to end the series added "after 23 years". Though it showed up sporadically, I Love Lucy reruns were not part of CBS's nighttime schedule after the 58-59 season, leaving the only Lucy on TV between 1960 and 62 the 5-day/week morning version and the debut of "the Lucy Desi Comedy Hour", the ratings hit of the summer of 1962. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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