Musicians

Charlotte Church

Bill Thompson

A lot of people say that is the voice of an

It’s actually the voice of young Welsh soprano Charlotte Church. And when I say young, I mean Young. Charlotte got a record contract when she was just 11. By age 13 she was, literally, world-famous.

I met her when she was a grizzled old veteran of 15, in 2001. She had written a book called voice of an angel, with the subtitle, my life so far.

So here now, from 2001, Charlotte Church.

Charlotte Church is 35 now, married, and has three children.

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Martha Reeves

Bill Thompson
Photo: Aug856

When you think of the best of Motown in the late 1950s and early ‘60s, one of the names that has to be near the top of the list it Martha and the

Behind lead singer Martha Reeves, they racked up a series of hit singles.

Finally, 30 years after their heyday, Martha Reeves wrote a memoir. And that’s when I met her.

So here now, from 1994, Martha Reeves:

Martha Reeves celebrated her 80th birthday a couple of weeks ago. And she still tours and performs.

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Naomi Judd

Bill Thompson
Photo: State Farm

Naomi Judd was born “Diana Judd” not long after World War II ended. Her dad ran a gas station in Ashland, Kentucky,

By the time she was in her mid 30s, Judd was a divorced single mom with two daughters, struggling to keep a household going.

That’s when she and her older daughter discovered that they liked to sing and harmonize with each other. And they got pretty good at it.

Before long, they came to the attention of the right people, and in 1983, they formed The Judds.

And for the next eight years, they’ve dominated country music, with a string of #1 hits.

But a 1991, a diagnosis of hepatitis-C forced Naomi to break up the act.

In 1993 she wrote a memoir named after one of their hit songs: Love Can Build a Bridge. And that’s when I met her.

So here now, from 1993, Naomi Judd:

The Judds reunited in 1999 for a New Years Eve concert, and toured the next year. Since then Naomi has done many TV appearances. She is 75 now.

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La Toya Jackson

Bill Thompson
Photo: Greg Hernandez

She was born into what would become one of America’s most famous music families.

La Toya Jackson is the fifth, and middle, child in the Jackson family. Less well-known than the Jackson Five or little brother Michael, La Toya carved out her own place in pop culture, as a singer and songwriter.

But little by little America learned about the private side of the Jackson family, the side the fan magazines didn’t want to write about. It was a a story of domestic abuse.

I met La Toya in 1992, after her bestselling memoir “La Toya” was published.

So here now, from 1992, La Toya Jackson.

La Toya Jackson will be 65 later this month. Her last music release was an EP album in 2011.

Glen Campbell

Bill Thompson
Photo: Capitol Records

He was the kid from a small town in Arkansas who grew up to become a country and western superstar.

Born in 1936, Glen Campbell first took up the guitar as a young boy. By the time he was in his twenties, he was an in-demand studio musician in Los Angeles, recording with some of the biggest names of the day.

He broke out as a solo artist in the mid-’60s, and had his first big hit — “Gentle on My Mind” — in 1967.

Then came more chart-toppers: “By the Time I Get to Phoenix”.. “Dreams of the Everyday Housewife” .. “Wichita Lineman” ..”Galveston” .. “Rhinestone Cowboy”.. and “Southern Nights.”

He also had his own very popular TV variet show.

But in his personal life, there was also serious substance abuse.

In 1994, Glen Campbell wrote his memoir, a book he called Rhinestone Cowboy. And that’s when I met him.

So here now, from 1994, Glen Campbell

Glen Campbell was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease in 2011. He died in 2017. He was 81.

Lionel Hampton

Bill Thompson

When you begin to list the greatest American Jazz percussionists of all time, near the top of that list has to be the great Vibe the harpist and drummer Lionel Hampton.

In a career that began in the 1920s, when he was a teenager, Lionel Hampton rose to primnence in the jazz community, playing alongside such names as Louis Armstrong and Benny Goodman.

Later, Hampton became a bandleader himself.

He wrote a memoir in 1989, and that’s what I met him

So here now, from 1989, the great Lionel Hampton.

Lionel Hampton died in 2002. He was 94.

Sonny Bono

Bill Thompson

Long before she was a successful solo act, Cher was half of Sonny and Cher.

Perhaps no married couple in music was popular in the mid-’60s as Sonny and Cher. Sonny Bono wrote hit songs like I’ve Got You, Babe and The Beat Goes On,

Eventually, they even had their own television variety show.

Sonny and Cher went their separate ways in the early ’70s. Sonny became interested in politics, and bwas elected mayor of Palm Springs, California in 1988. And he was elected to Congress in 1992.

I met him in 1991, when he wrote a memoir.

So here now, from 1991, Sonny Bono:

Sonny Bono died in a skiing accident in 1998 at the age of 62

Ronnie Spector

Bill Thompson

They may have called her “the original ‘bad girl of rock and roll’,” but Ronnie Spector was nothing but nice to me, when I met her in 1990.

Spectre was the lead singer in the ’60s girl-group The Ronettes. Their big hit, of couse, was “Be My Baby.” but of course there were others, too.

But Ronnie Spector was also Mrs. Phil Spector. And we get into that a little bit, in this interview.

So here now, from 1990, Ronnie Spector.

Ronnie Spector is 77 now. Her most recent album was released in 2016. She lives in Connectiocut.

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Gladys Knight

Gladys Knight

Bill Thompson
Gladys Knight in 1974. Photo: CBS Television

Midnight Plane to Houston?

Doesn’t sound quite right, does it? And in her 1997 memoir, singer Gladys Knight told the story of how it became the Midnight Train to Georgia.

And in this interview you’re about to hear, she also tells about the connection that Danny Thomas has to another classic Gladys Knight and the Pips song.

So here now, from 1997, Gladys Knight:

Gladys Knight is now 76 years old.

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Skidmore
Photo: Kingkongphoto

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Kitty Carlisle Hart

Bill Thompson

Regular listeners of Now I’ve Heard Everything know that I don’t often get starstruck. But this was one of those times.

If you grew up in the ’60s, as I did, you may best remember Kitty Carlisle as a panelist on the game show “To Tell the Truth.” But her acting career went back many decades before that.

In fact, Kitty Carlisle was a featured performer in the 1935 Marx Brothers classic “A Night at the Opera.”

In 1988, Kitty Carlisle Hart Road an autobiography. That’s what I met her.

So here now, from 1988, Kitty Carlisle Hart:

Kitty Carlisle Hart died in 2007 at age 96.