John Raitt on Jack's show/s?

[Mike]

I read on one of Raitt's online obits today (I think from the NY Times) that he was on Jack's show/s? Is that true? Which show/s was he on, and what did he sing!? Mike in L.A.

[LLeff]

I read on one of Raitt's online obits today (I think from the NY Times) that he was on Jack's show/s? Is that true? Which show/s was he on, and what did he sing!? Mike in L.A.

Uh, really? If he was, he wasn't listed as a guest star. Eventually when I complete 39 Forever Volume 3, I'll know for sure.

[Mike]

I read on one of Raitt's online obits today (I think from the NY Times) that he was on Jack's show/s? Is that true? Which show/s was he on, and what did he sing!? Mike in L.A.

Uh, really? If he was, he wasn't listed as a guest star. Eventually when I complete 39 Forever Volume 3, I'll know for sure.

It might have been some other varitey show/s that they were both on, like one of the Chevy Shows, or something like that. Dinah shore's name was also mentioned, so it leads me to believe that. Sorry I don't know how to access and link the NY times obit here. Mike

[Roman]

You may be thinking of Shower of Stars which Jack appeared on many times in the late 1950s. According to the Internet Movie Database (an invaluable website), Jack and John Raitt appeared together on the April 17, 1958 Shower of Stars show (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0046643/guests). Another guest on that episode was Betty Grable. John Raitt was one of the greatest singers Broadway's ever known. I had the great privilege to hear him perform in Carousel in Stratford, CT in the mid-1970s. He may have been a bit old to be playing Billy Bigelow but his voice was still magnificent.

[Maxwell]

It might have been some other varitey show/s that they were both on, like one of the Chevy Shows, or something like that. Dinah shore's name was also mentioned, so it leads me to believe that. Sorry I don't know how to access and link the NY times obit here. Mike

John Raitt hosted a summer replacement series for Dinah Shore along with Janet Blair (The Chevy Show). I would imagine somewhere along the line he guested on her show, too.

[Mike]

Now, where do we GET these shows? I am very familiar with Raitt's career, but I didn't know about the early TV shows because I was learning how to talk then. I emailed Shokus and they don't have anything with Raitt in them. Mike

[Maxwell]

Now, where do we GET these shows? I am very familiar with Raitt's career, but I didn't know about the early TV shows because I was learning how to talk then. I emailed Shokus and they don't have anything with Raitt in them. Mike

I don't know if you can get them. The "Chevy Show" replacement series for Dinah shore were shown on NBC in the late '50s, and maybe early '60s. They may have been live broadcasts, but even if they were on tape, most of the programs stored by NBC were destroyed several decades ago. I remember Johnny Carson talking about that several yaers ago in one of his anniversary shows.

I've seen a few of Dinah Shore's shows within the last 5 years on WYCC-TV (owned by the Chicago City Colleges) but they were poor quality and in black and white. I have no idea what the source was of those programs, but the NBC peacock appeared at the opening, so they were originally shown in color.

Back to Carson, one of the highlights of his anniversary shows was the Ed Ames tomahawk accident. The Tonight Show was in color as far back as I can remember with Carson, but that clip was in black and white and of only slightly better quality than the Shore shows.

So the bottom line is, the tapes probably don't exist.