While trying to find info about music guests on the Captain & Tennille's old show, I stumbled upon Toni T's blog and her memories of Gord in the 70s and how his recent concert might have inspired C&T to hit the road again...
There are a couple of blog posts about Gord (scroll down) Here is one:Feb.4,2007 http://www.captainandtennille.net/to...ke_blog_07.htm Last night Daryl and I attended a concert at a local Indian casino, not far from our home in La Quinta. This is a rare event for both of us for more than one reason. We are “day people”.... usually up by 5:30AM, and lights out by 10PM. Also, Daryl is really uncomfortable in crowds. He’s a very quiet and private person, and crowds make him quite anxious. And neither of us enjoys going to casinos. We lived in Nevada for over 20 years, and rarely went to one. Casinos are loud, hectic, smoky places, and we prefer a more “serene” atmosphere on our rare nights “on the town” (God, we sound totally DULL). - What would make us dress up, get in the car, and try to find our way on dark and pot-holed roads to a casino we have never been to? Gordon Lightfoot. - Those of you who read TONI’S TAKE regularly may remember the recent column I wrote about Gordon... how he had invited us to his beautiful home in Toronto after our concert at the Canadian National Exposition in Toronto in 1978 (or 1979).... our experience as part of the audience for his debut in Las Vegas in the late 70s... and how we used to perform his songs at The Smokehouse in Encino, CA in the early ‘70s, long before we ever even dreamed of having a hit record. - Not a night went by at The Smokehouse that I didn’t sing BEAUTIFUL and IF YOU COULD READ MY MIND LOVE, but BEAUTIFUL was my favorite, because it was a love song in the deepest sense of the word, and expressed my growing love for Daryl. Those words by the songwriter and poet, Gordon Lightfoot, were favorites of mine back in those days. And the music was so lovely... gentle, honest, and true. It has probably been thirty years since I last sang BEAUTIFUL, but I wanted to hear Gordon sing it, in person, at least one more time. - The Entertainment Office at the casino arranged front row seats for us. The show room was very large.... it probably seated about 3000 people, and by the time the show began, most of the seats were full. Gordon is Canadian, and many, many Canadian “Snowbirds” come down to the Palm Springs area to spend the winter. I would say that quite a few of them were in the audience last night. - Gordon almost died of an abdominal aneurism a few years ago. Daryl and I first heard of it when we were in Vancouver BC shooting a Kohl’s Christmas commercial. I picked up a local paper, and there was an article about Gordon’s illness, and how he was struggling to recover so he could sing and write again. My heart just sank at the thought of possibly losing this wonderful songwriter, whose music was so much a part of my past. Thank God he made it through, and began writing, and even touring again. Last night’s concert was his eighth concert in nine days... a tough schedule for even a very healthy person. - Within minutes of the scheduled start of the concert, Gordon and his band, without fuss or fanfare, took the stage. He was backed by a keyboardist, a drummer, a bass player and a lead guitarist, all of whom were superb musicians. - Gordon was so very thin and frail in appearance...certainly not the robust and strong young man I remember. The familiar baritone was a shadow of its former self... possibly because this was his eighth concert in a row, but the heart and soul of the man were still there in full force. He sang for 90 minutes.... songs I knew and loved, and wonderful songs that were unfamiliar (to me), but bearing his unmistakeable stamp. He varied the mood and the tempos, and carried the audience along with him as he sang and talked. - Often, during the show, flashes of the fiesty and mischievious Gordon I remembered from the past would emerge, mostly as he talked about how the ideas for songs came to him. “Once,” he joked, “I was playing golf with my ex brother-in-law, and when we got to the first tee, he pronounced to the rest of us, ‘Either step up or step back,’ and that gave me an idea for this song,” a bluesy, mid-tempo number which he proceeded to sing with humor and gusto. - But it was when he strummed the opening chords to BEAUTIFUL that I found myself swept back to those early days in The Smokehouse with Daryl. And as he sang the well-loved words, I was absolutely struck through the heart, and I found myself in tears. I glanced over at Daryl, and as our eyes met, I could see that he was right there with me, remembering. So much time has passed so quickly, but here we are, and the words mean even more to us now. Before the show, a young woman took a seat next to us, and I thought she was probably a wife or girlfriend of a band member, because the front-row seats were very difficult to come by. As we waited, we chatted a little bit...she did not recognize us.... and she told me that she had gotten the ticket by going to the casino website. She said it is not that difficult to get single tickets at the last minute, and that you often end up with terrific seats, as she did. - Her name was Gwen, and she told us that she had seen her first Gordon Lightfoot concert when she was ten years old, and had been a fan ever since. In fact, she had seen him in concert three times in the past year! But what was most wonderful to me about her story, was that she was a Marine Biologist... a professor at Cal State Long Beach... and that she had been inspired to become one because of a song Gordon wrote about the sea and the creatures in it. She heard him sing it when she was a little girl, and it changed the course of her life. - After the show we went backstage to thank Gordon, but it was incredibly crowded in the Green Room.... at least fifty people were in there, waiting to shake his hand, or have their photo taken with him. There were the head honchos of the casino, two Canadian Senators and their wives (very charming people), and various other Lightfoot fans. I had told Gwen that I would tell Gordon about how much his song had meant to her, and how it changed her life, but it was a zoo backstage, and I could see he was tired, so I just gave him a quick hug and Daryl and I thanked him. I don’t think we really needed many words to express how we felt about him. I’m sure he could tell. - His show was simple, quiet and intimate, even in that huge room. Just the man and his incredible songs. It was all that was needed. Gordon, may you live, sing and write for many, many more years. We are forever grateful to you. GORDON in 1974 / GORDON Today - By the way, I did not ask permission to reprint part of Gordon’s lyrics for BEAUTIFUL in this week’s column, but I don’t think he would mind. [ May 12, 2007, 07:55: Message edited by: Blackberry John ] |
how "beautiful"..
I'm glad they at least got to say hello and let him know just by their prescence that they still thought so admirably of him. very heart warming indeed.. [ May 12, 2007, 17:33: Message edited by: charlene ] |
"Captain & Tenille" are one of my many favorites from the 1970's. No surprise to me that they would know Gordon,I'm sure a lot of 70s acts were close friends.
I hope they do come here to Phoenix,I missed a chance to see them at California's,Del Mar fair in 1978 at age 10. I watched their show when I was young and vividly remember seeing "Muskrat Love" depicted by two people dressed up as cute Muskrats acting out the song in pantomime. (Yes,being little I thought they were real! ) :D :redface: I even have Toni's 1984 solo LP,"More Than You Know",a collection of standards. ;) |
This is such a wonderful gesture from friends and fellow performers. Gord is certainly a performer who would be someone that other performers would hold as a truly sincere individual. His music speaks that truth in every song he sings...
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And another entry--sounds like GL has revised his former approach to Vegas:
http://www.corfid.com/vbb/showthread...461#post115461 January 14, 2007 GORDON LIGHTFOOT | CIRCLES - First of all, thanks to all of you who have written so far about which C&T songs you would like to hear us do in concert. It has been absolutely fascinating to both of us to read your comments and preferences. I was particularly heartened to find that so many of you would like to us to do songs I wrote, such as LOVE ME LIKE A BABY, HONEY COME LOVE ME, DEEP IN THE DARK, CIRCLES, BUTTERSCOTCH CASTLE, BABY YOU’VE STILL GOT IT, KEEPING OUR LOVE WARM, and others. I have been passing your requests on to Daryl, who is keeping a list of your most requested songs. And, of course, we would definitely do the hits... LOVE WILL KEEP US TOGETHER, SHOP AROUND, MUSKRAT LOVE, DO THAT TO ME ONE MORE TIME, etc. - We know that most audiences ALWAYS come to hear the artist’s hits. Which reminds me of the time Daryl and I went to see Gordon Lightfoot in concert in Las Vegas, of all places. Gordon, a Canadian, is a brilliant songwriter, and Daryl and I used to perform some of his songs when we worked at The Smokehouse in Encino, California in 1972-74. Some of my favorite songs by Gordon are IF YOU COULD READ MY MIND, BEAUTIFUL, and THE FIRST TIME EVER I SAW YOUR FACE. Gordon also has a very distinctive voice, rather plaintive and melancholy. - It was VERY unusual to have a performer of Gordon’s “hipness” perform in Las Vegas at that time... it was in the late 1970s, I believe. Any venue in Vegas was considered “plastic” and “square” for pop artists then, so most of us avoided it like the plague, trying to stay away from the “stigma” of Vegas. It actually seems stupid to me now that we even concerned ourselves with stuff like that. However, Daryl and I were VERY surprised to learn that Gordon would be performing there. But we really wanted to see him in concert, so we booked our reservations, and were there in the audience along with all of his fans who had made the trek to Vegas to see him. - I don’t know how many of you have ever seen a classic Las Vegas show, but at that time the shows were very UP UP UP and moved right along at a fast and furious clip, stopping only now and then for the accasional ballad. The audience’s attention was never allowed to waiver for one second! - After we waited almost 45 minutes for Gordon’s show to begin (shows are NEVER late in Vegas... they want YOU out in the casino, gambling your money away for as long as possible), the showroom lights dimmed, and the announcer said, “Ladies and Gentlemen, Mr. Gordon Lightfoot.” The audience responded with thunderous applause and excited anticipation. Gordon slowly strolled onstage, very casually dressed in jeans (absolutely NO Vegas glitz or glam), his eyes on his band, not even glancing at the audience. When he reached center stage, he TURNED HIS BACK TO THE AUDIENCE AND TUNED HIS GUITAR for what seemed like an eternity! All of us in the audience maintained a respectful but uncomfortable silence while the tuning was going on. - Finally, he turned to the audience, and started playing the intro to a tune none of us had ever heard before. It turned out to be from his just-released album, and, of course it was a very good song... as all of his are.... but it was unfamiliar to most of us. After the song was over, the audience applauded politely, expecting Gordon to then break into one of his hits. Instead, he played seven brand new songs from the new album, and he rarely spoke to the audience at all. By this time, people were grumbling and muttering to themselves, and some were leaving. - In my case, I had been wondering how Gordon would approach his Vegas concert, and if he would make any changes because of the venue. Well, he didn’t. He played it just like any of his concerts. And as a consequence, he lost his Vegas audience. He finally played several of his hits, but by that time all was lost. He never played Vegas again, and I don’t blame him. It wasn’t his style, and he didn’t NEED to play there. His concerts were always packed with music lovers... not necessarily gamblers! - Today it seems that EVERYBODY plays Vegas. The “stigma” is pretty much gone. It is just a convenient place for performing artists to reach a wide audience of people from all around the country and the world. |
Lord, I do hope the new owners were aware of Gord's "visitors" coming up to the kitchen and helping themselves, lol.
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Toronto is over run with raccoons..especially in the Rosedale ravine where Beaumont Rd. is.. hills and creeks and forests..and the Don River - there's lots of wildlife and natural habitat..
many homes in Rosedale are designate "heritage" homes: the old Lightfoot place is one of them. 5 BEAUMONT RD Part of the North Rosedale Heritage Conservation District, enacted by City Council on Sept. 30, 2004 interesting history about the former owner of 5 Beaumont (where he died) and his property on Seven Mile Island in Scugog county. http://www.scugogheritage.com/misc/sevenmile.htm [ May 14, 2007, 12:19: Message edited by: charlene ] |
That's probably where 'Sea Of Tranquility' comes from...
Hey Annie can you just see the new owners, when they first open the back door !!! :eek: :) [ May 14, 2007, 12:34: Message edited by: Jesse-Joe. ] |
"Oh the raccoons of Toronto,
do whatever they just want to but then again,they've been there for awhile!" "If you think they're cute or pretty, with their black mask faces lookin' witty, then it's-a guarnteed to make ya smile." "Rosedale bound,Rosedale bound! They run and jump along the ground!" "Rosedale bound,Rosedale bound, raccoons live free,not payin a pound!" :D |
Thanks for the Toni Tennille info.
I'd not thought of C&T in a bit-o-time. Her sister is married to a guy named Andy Boettner. Andy was one of C&T's back up singers. He's an excellent vocal coach, also [The Seth Riggs Method] and coaxed much of those fine vocals out of his sister-in-law. Andy also taught Doogie Howser [Neil Patrick Harris] and my daughter [Summer Joy] Her lesson came right after Doogie's. This was mid 90s. Toni would visit Sister every now and again when Summer was having a lesson. Very kind lady. Y'all have me talked into looking everyone up again . . . some 12yrs later. I'd forgotton those Midnight Specials frequented by the likes of Gord and C&T. After Saturday nite gigs at a Newport Beach saloon, they'd set up the Big Screen for next day's football, so we got to see most of each weeks Midnight Special. Great Show that was . . . Give The Wolfman a Howl-Out . . . ! Rez [ May 17, 2007, 16:08: Message edited by: The Rez ] |
From Post by "Blackberry John" 5/12/2007 7:49
Re: Toni Tennille's Blog - Gord Memories "But it was when he strummed the opening chords to BEAUTIFUL that I found myself swept back to those early days in the Smokehouse with Daryl. And as he sang the well-loved words, I was absolutely struck through the heart, and found myself in tears. I glanced over at Daryl, and as our eyes met, I could see that he was right there with me, remembering. So much time has passed so quickly, but here we are, and the words mean even more to us now." Just think of how many of us can relate to that on a personal level. This is the reason for the quote by Gord, that I use for my signature. |
Now I'm even more bummed that I sold my front row ticket to that concert. :(
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Toni Tenille Last Time I Saw Her
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Re: Toni Tenille Last Time I Saw Her
No myself I had never heard this, very beautiful. She does a great job with this Lightfoot GEM !
Thanks for posting this Music Fan. :) |
Re: Toni Tenille Last Time I Saw Her
music fan, there's a great little blog (i think that's what it is?) by her talking of GL...search back within a year or so
question: why does one have to enter all those letters and numbers when doing a search? is the act of searching some sort of security risk?...i can hardly tell the difference between a "l" and a "1" as it is, let alone first thing in the morning...escpecially when they put light yellow type against a just slightly darker yellow background |
Re: Toni Tenille Last Time I Saw Her
Can't answer the security question James..everywhere I go on the web those damn things are there!
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Re: Toni Tennille's Blog: Gord Memories
Thanks for pointing out the blog jj!
I could not get in this entry due to security user "unfriendly" reasons, to post the short cut for the clip to her rendition of song "The Last Time I Saw Her". Here is it is again Happy listening!!:) |
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glad ya enjoyed it, music fan...kind woman, large mouth
char, and sometimes i do a search and it doesn't ask, very odd |
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that is much helpful...thank you, mr. rm
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Re: Toni Tenille Last Time I Saw Her
After watching Toni, check out Glen Campbell's version of same song, also pretty good. With more than a nod to Gordon's version.
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http://www.corfid.com/vbb/showthread.php?t=19728 when you guys listen to the Songwriters broadcast, you will hear Gord say how this song is the one that stirs memories of his first wife and makes him quite sad...that was one of the various tidbits during the 2 hour chat that i'd never heard him mention before |
Re: Toni Tenille Last Time I Saw Her
when he said that JJ he was ready to say more but stopped himself. I thought he sounded very sad and seemingly apologetic, sorrowful if you will. It was emotional for him I think-he wasn't just 'saying' it.
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Re: Toni Tenille Last Time I Saw Her
i agreee, char....i also thought when he was singing FAFCB to Ingrid at last Massey, he was probably also seeing images of Brita as he looked down at Ingrid's face....quite personal moments in a public setting
as GL has said in hindsight, he's never intentionally meant to hurt anyone |
Re: Toni Tennille's Blog: Gord Memories
part 1 of 3
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/jed-ry...b_9601596.html A New Life, A New Memoir: Toni Tennille Speaks About Life After The Captain Jed Ryan is a New York City-based freelance writer and photographer with a focus on LGBTQ issues. Love Will Keep Us Together. Muskrat Love. Do That To Me One More Time. These are the irresistible songs that cemented their place in pop culture forever, and made household names of Captain and Tennille, the musical husband-and-wife team who performed them. “Captain” was keyboardist Daryl Dragon, and “Tennille” was dynamic singer/songwriter Cathryn Antoinette “Toni” Tennille. In addition to their impressive discography, Captain and Tennille also hosted their own popular variety show on ABC from September 1976 to March 1977. The duo were undoubtedly America’s sweethearts during the 70’s and early 80’s, presenting the image of a perfect couple both on and off the charts. It was therefore a surprise in late 2014 when it was announced that Captain and Tennille were divorcing— after 39 years of marriage. Today, Toni Tennille lives in Florida with Bee-Bop and Lula, her two champion Australian shepherds. After a truly variegated career spanning many decades, she is now retired from show business. However, Tennille has decided to tell her story at long last. Entitled Toni Tenille: A Memoir, the new book promises to be a candid and emotional journey of her colorful life and career, from childhood to her current life as a newly single woman. It also promises some very revealing— and not always pretty— insight on her life with The Captain. Ms. Tennille took the time to speak with me about her new book and much more: Hello, Toni. Congratulations on the book! I really look forward to reading it. Thank you. It took a few years to get it done, but we’re pleased with how it turned out. What inspired you to write the book? Was there a specific moment when you just knew it was the right time? Not at all. You know, when you finally get to be my age and you’ve had some success, then your friends and your fans from “the old days” will always say, “You need to write your memoir!” I wasn’t ready to write it, because I wasn’t sure what I was going to do. I started thinking about it when I moved to Prescott. That was in 2009. When you read the book, you’ll understand a lot more about my thinking. But I wasn’t ready to write about it back then because— well, first of all, I didn’t think that my story was that interesting... Really? The only famous person I ever slept with was Daryl. There was no rehab or anything like that! I thought that it would not be that interesting, for those reasons. There wasn’t anything really salacious. But, why did I write it? I thought about it over the last five years or so, wondering about what I would do and how I would write it, but I would never have written it by myself. And I would never have worked on it with a writer who I didn’t know. Then my niece, Caroline Tennille St. Clair, sent me a couple of manuscripts that she had written. One was a novel for kids, for the “8 to 14” crowd. It was lovely and well-written, and I thought it was good... but it didn’t speak to me because of how old I am. However, the second novel she sent me absolutely knocked me flat! It was shocking how wonderful it was. I read it, and I then found myself wanting to know more about the characters, and wanting to know where she got the idea for it, and everything else. I gave it to my friends and people that I knew of all ages, and they all had the same reaction that I did. So, I thought, “This young woman is a fine writer.” She’s my sister Jane’s youngest daughter, and I’ve known her since she was six years old and she sat on my lap on our Christmas special while I sang Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas to her. I’ve watched her grow and become this writer and painter. She just has all kinds of wonderful talents. So, I talked to her about it. I asked, “Would you be interested in it?” She was. I said, “If I work with you, Caroline, let’s see what we can come up with!” We started working over two years ago, when we were on a short family cruise. Caroline got out her digital recorder, and Jane and I sat down and started talking and remembering. Caroline got hours and hours of story from Jane and me. We made sure that we had our facts correct, and we argued about the right years and stuff like that. As we began, we decided that we would tell the story in the traditional memoir format. We would start at the beginning, early in my life, and we would take it up to now. That’s the way I wanted to write it. Caroline too. As we began to work together, I found that I was really good at writing what happened. I was born in 1940, and grew up in Alabama in the segregated South as the daughter of white, upper middle class parents in Montgomery. I left Alabama in 1959 and moved to California. Then I met Daryl, who of course was a very important part of my whole life. Caroline would take my story and put it into historical context: She put it through what was going on in history at the time in this country. Caroline has the ability to set a scene. I can tell what happened, but she can set a scene so that people feel like they are there. I couldn’t do that on my own! Wow! That sounds amazing. So... when you and The Captain, Daryl, divorced in late 2014, the news exploded all over the internet. People were saying silly things like, “Love couldn’t keep them together” and that kind of thing... Ha, ha!... Yes. People thought they were being so clever. But anyway, I would imagine that many of your fans were upset about it... Yes, I imagine... Was your book in part motivated by your desire to tell the “real story”? I’m sure that psychologists are going to have a field day trying to figure out what it is about Daryl when they read the book! But I was desperately in love with Daryl, from the very first time we started working together. I wrote many, many love songs for him. It turned out later that he never read the lyrics. He didn’t know what I was writing. Here I was, coming from a loving family. Not a perfect family, but a family that loved. All of us. I have three sisters. I grew up with the idea that I could help anybody find their way to a more loving space. Oh, it was so naive— but that’s the way I was! I couldn’t tell what Daryl felt about me, except that I knew he thought I was a wonderful songwriter and a fabulous singer— and he really wanted to work with me and make records together. I knew that... but I was hoping to open the door to this man. I felt bad for him. I felt, “Oh my gosh, he just doesn’t understand how wonderful I can be!” He was very negative about everything. I thought I could get through. There’s a very short poem written by Edwin Markham that I am going to read to you. It’s called Outwitted, and it has been somewhat of my theme from the first time I learned it, when I was in high school: “He drew a circle that shut me out— Heretic, a rebel, a thing to flout. But Love and I had the wit to win: We drew a circle that took him in!” I spent my whole marriage trying to take him into the circle of the love that I had for him— and I was never successful. People put us in that place: “Oh, they have the perfect love” No, we didn’t. I did, but he didn’t... and I could never make it happen. Finally, after many years, it just died. It’s a cliche to say that if you don’t take care of the garden, the flowers are going to die. That’s kind of what happened. I am at the “last checked box”. You know what I mean? When they ask, “What age are you?”, I say, “I am the last box: 75 and up!”. I wanted to have the life I felt I could have. But I couldn’t as long as I was with him. I tell you: It took a lot of thinking, a lot of soul-searching. I went to a wonderful therapist in Prescott who really helped me through the worst time of trying to figure it out. Finally, she said to me, “Toni, why don’t you go ahead and make this decision to leave Daryl, and get a divorce?” I said, “Well, I’m worried about how disappointed people will be.” That’s honestly what I said! She said, “This is not somebody else’s life. This is yours. You have to make the decision about what you want to do.” I thought about what she said, and I thought, “You know? It’s true. I get to make this decision”. And so I did. Not that it was easy, but I did it! Just to backtrack... when you say that you are at the “last checked box”, I’d prefer to say that you are in the “evening of your life”! Evenings can be wonderful! (Laughs) I am. I’m in the evening of my life, and it’s a wonderful life. I’m here in Florida, and I’m surrounded by the love of a great family. I just feel wonderful. |
Re: Toni Tennille's Blog: Gord Memories
part 2 of 3
Congratulations for that. So... the 70’s and early 80’s, when Captain and Tennille had their hits all over the charts, was actually a very heady and hedonistic time in American culture. What was it like being a pop star and a public figure during that time? The honest answer is that it was overwhelming to me— to have that fame and recognition. I’m just going to tell you the truth: I didn’t go into it for that reason. I went into it because Daryl and I made great music together. We made great records. Things just kind of came to us. We worked for two years in little clubs in Los Angeles, and some of them were just dives! But we worked, and we learned, and he and I just sparked each other musically. Because of this crazy love thing that I had for him, I wrote some great songs. I can write children’s songs like Butterscotch Castle, but I can also write very sensual things, like Deep in the Dark. But anyway, we sparked each other— and we got a record deal. We got the interest of four or five major labels in L.A., and we signed with the one that would let us produce our own first album. All the others wanted us to use the staff producer. We both knew that it was Daryl’s producing that gave us our really unique sound. Then Love Will Keep Us Together came out, and went to number one in the summer of 1975, and then we won the Grammy, and all these things started coming our way. But Daryl has never been the kind of person who is comfortable in social situations, so it was hard for me because of that part. A lot of people think, “Oh boy! Fame! Isn’t that fun?” But no, it wasn’t that fun for me. That wasn’t what I was looking for. It came, and I was grateful that it did, with all the good things that came with it. But it was hard for me. When people watched you on TV, or were lucky enough to see you perform live, your love of performing was so obvious. It really shined through. I loved that part. It’s the other part that I’m not comfortable with— the part that comes when you’re off stage and you’re just trying to be a regular person, and you can’t be a regular person anymore. That was hard for me. That’s actually why I laid low in Prescott for eight years. I didn’t do anything. I didn’t accept interviews from anywhere except the local paper, who did a piece on me and my dog Smokey. We worked at the hospital as a therapy team. Basically, I just did “regular stuff”, and kept to myself, and had a nice quiet life. I see that soon happening again. My plan is that once we get this book done and Caroline has her shot as a published author, I am just going to drop below the radar again. Honestly. I don’t know how successful I’ll be, but that’s my plan! (Laughs) A lot of your fans will want to know if you will be performing again any time soon! (Laughs) No! Gotcha! So, in a way we touched upon this already: Usually, in a relationship, one partner is the more outgoing, gregarious one, and the other is usually more reserved. In your case, there was no mystery which of the two of you was which! But when we watched the variety show, for example, we never really knew if Daryl’s reserved nature was an “act”, or if he really was content to let you have the spotlight... He preferred it that way. When we were alone together, he had no trouble telling me what he thought or what he wanted. But in social situations, he was very uncomfortable and very awkward. What you saw was what he is. When we were on stage, I never quite knew what he was going to say— if he even said anything. My job was to try to relate Daryl to the audience. Sometimes it was like, “What in the world did he just say? What does it mean?”... because I never even knew. It was like walking on a tightrope all the time on stage with Daryl. When we had our TV show, I already had experience. My mother was a TV talk show hostess— one of the first ever to have her own show in the ‘50’s in Alabama. I was around television my whole life. I did theater. I was very comfortable in front of an audience. Daryl had never even seen a cue card, much less read one. In those days, there was a guy sitting on the floor holding up a card with what you were supposed to say on it. He was just really uncomfortable with that. But what happened was: By him just being himself, he became a character— and people were just fascinated by that and loved it. I was like, “OK. Fine!” We did a couple of concerts in Prescott, just for the people there... and Daryl came on stage after I finished doing 90 minutes of really singing my ass off, and then I said, “You asked for him. Here he is!” He walked out, looked at the audience, and said, “PRESCOTT!” That’s all he said! And the audience jumped up and gave him a standing ovation. (Laughs) Whenever I did a concert, I tried to get him to come on stage to say “Hi!” or even do a song with me, and he would. But then he just quit doing it. No amount of coaxing could get him out there. But then again, I never knew what was going to do once he got out there. (Laughs) As Captain and Tennille, you and Daryl brought us some songs that are cemented into pop culture forever. I still believe that Do That To Me One More Time... ... which I wrote! Yes! I believe that it’s still one of the most feverishly romantic songs ever! Thank you. It was my number one of my number ones! It was about Daryl. But it wasn’t about the reality. It was my fantasy of what I always hoped would happen but never did. Go online and read the lyrics for a song I wrote called Deep in the Dark. That’s about a sensual experience. I’m very proud of those lyrics. I think they are almost poetic by themselves. But that’s one side of me, and the other side is, “Come on along to our butterscotch castle!” I can write just about anything, but I did my best writing— and was inspired the most— when I was with Daryl. I’m glad that you like Do That To Me One More Time. I really am! Well, it’s timeless. You can put it on, decades later, and still get “in the mood”! So, back to the book. What was the hardest thing about writing it? Was it having to revisit some painful memories? Yeah. But, you know, a lot of people have painful memories... and some people have much, much worse things in their life than I did. My life was just a life of hoping that this man who I adored so much would love me as much as I loved him, which never happened. So, I can’t complain. I really can’t! But the hardest part for me was sitting in my little house in Prescott and remembering all these things: the frustration, and the dashed hopes that I had. And, I relived it again when I did the audiobook. But there are some funny things in there too! I am not saying that it’s all gloom and doom and Toni’s frustration. We have some wonderful experiences, and some very funny experiences that I write about. Those were good. Those were fun to revisit! |
Re: Toni Tennille's Blog: Gord Memories
Yes. Like I said, I can’t wait to read it myself. And I’ll make sure to tell people that if they want to want to know the “best bits”, they are going to have to get the book and read it themselves! But can you give maybe one anecdote from “the heyday”, like maybe a story about one of your fellow peers in the music business?
I can tell you the story about Gordon Lightfoot. He was one of my favorite songwriters and singers. When we were working in clubs back in the 1970’s before we finally had a hit, I used to do Gordon’s songs. I also did songs by Elton John, Carole King, Carly Simon, Billy Joel— we were your “Top 40 band” in the club. And then I’d throw in some of the songs that I had written as well. That’s what we did for years. It was wonderful because it helped me learn how to program a show: to take the audience on an “emotional arc”. You bring them up and make them feel good, and then make them feel some different emotions. It’s a gift to program a concert and take people along with you on this arc. Anyway, one of the funnier things that happened was when we were performing in Toronto, at the Canadian National Exposition. Gordon Lightfoot lives there. This was about 1977 or 1978. We got an invitation by Gordon’s people to come to a party at his house. I just couldn’t wait. My sister Louisa was performing background vocals with us, and she came along. We got to Gordon’s house, and there were all sorts of other people there. There was some kind of party thing going on that I really didn’t understand, but Louisa did! Gordon took us through this gorgeous home of his— a beautiful, beautiful home. He had this great big kitchen, and he opened the kitchen door, and about ten raccoons just walked into this kitchen. They went on the counters and just made themselves at home. Evidently, Gordon let these raccoons into his kitchen every night to do whatever they wanted. I found out from Louisa on the ride home that there was a lot of “druggy” stuff going on at that party— but I didn’t even notice. I was still thinking about the raccoons! (Laughs) Years later, Gordon did a concert at one of the local casinos in La Quinta, down in the Palm Desert area where Daryl and I had a summer house. We went to see him, and sat in the front row, and he looked old. He was what we used to say, “rode hard and put away wet”. But when he started to sing, it was the same voice— the same songs that I had sung in the clubs before I ever knew him. I sat there and I cried. I was so moved by it. Thank God it was the front row, so that people couldn’t see me cry! But then I went backstage and met him, and it was very moving to me. I almost thought I spotted a little tear in Daryl’s eye, but probably not! (Laughs) (Laughs) Maybe if he would have taken his sunglasses off, you would have known for sure! (Both laugh) For those who don’t know, what were some of Gordon Lightfoot’s songs? He did Sundown, and If You Could Read My Mind... Ah yes! If You Could Read My Mind is another timeless, sensual song. It goes perfectly with Do That To Me One More Time! Oh, thank you! I have to ask: You have so much youthful energy. Do you have any secrets for being this way? I wish I did! I really do. I don’t know. I’m curious about life. I’m truly interested in people. That’s not to say that I want them all over my house, because I’m a very private individual. I have family with whom I’m very tight, and I have friends who I love, some of whom I’ve had to leave behind in Nevada and in Prescott where I lived for so many years. Those are the people who I love and trust. My niece Caroline and her boyfriend Michael are helping me with social media, because I didn’t know diddly about it! I still don’t understand Twitter! But as for the people who write on my Facebook page, I am fascinated by their take on things and what they have to say, and what they share with me— such as videos they like and that kind of thing. I am fascinated by that. I like to chat back and forth with them, and to hear what they have to say. I think that’s what keeps you young: curiosity and interest in things. That’s all I can say! I’m blessed with a good constitution. I’m trying to stay healthy. It may come one of these days, but I don’t want anyone to have to take care of me and fuss with me. When I die I just wanna go “Boom!” I’m curious about things and about people, so that may be it. I have been very lucky with what I’ve had in my life so far. Wow! Thank you for sharing! So, lastly... You’re now a single woman for the first time in a long time. Is there anyone special in your life now? Are you kidding? No! And there never will be! I’m done with men! I mean, bless men’s hearts. But no. I’m perfectly happy with my dogs and my friends. Actually, my idea of a great “man friend” is a gay man, who loves theater— to go see a play, to go to a concert, and that’s it! You can just be really good friends. That’s my ideal. So there! (Laughs!) Gotcha! Thank you so much for speaking with me. You are welcome! |
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