Smothered with nostalgia

A group like The Beatles, a singer like Bing Crosby, or a comedy duo like Abbot and Costello come just once in a lifetime.  Sure, there are others with similar talents and others that can be just as entertaining in different ways but these are genuine classics. That's the way I feel about the Smothers Brothers.  Riding the crest of the folk song popularity in the middle 1950's they could easily have become just another Kingston Trio or Limelighters but they chose to put a little edge into their act that made lots of people laugh and lots of people fume.

An example:
Tommy: "You know you can tell who's in charge by how many clothes they wear.
Dicky: "Really, how?"
Tommy: "Well, if you're not in charge you wear less so you're called 'less-ons'.
Dicky: "So the people in charge wear more and are called ..."
Together :  "More-ons!!"

I liked their music.  I liked their humor.  So when Carolyn gave me 2 tickets to the next to next to last concert of the Smothers Brothers I was ecstatic.  The fact that the tickets were $50 a piece and the concert was 110 miles away were minor matters.

Friday, Carolyn and I drove over to Santa Rosa in Sonoma county to join 1,800 other baby boomers in a nostalgia fest presided over by Tom and Dick Smothers. It was everything it had promised to be.  I can't imagine anyone in the audience who knew and liked the Smothers Brothers 50 years ago who could have been disappointed.

Example of humor on Friday:
Foyers have been cleared and everyone asked to take their seats.  House lights are still up as the stage announcer booms: "Welcome, everyone.  The show will begin in one minute"
About a half minute later: "The show will begin in approximately two minutes.
About a half minute later: "Ladies and gentlemen, we are sorry to announce that for this performance only, the part of Dick Smothers will be played by ... Sarah Palin"

They sang, they played, they bickered, they brought back every good memory of their past television performances and many albums.  They lasted only about 10 years on TV but as one of their numbers made clear Friday evening, "They're still here!!"