Dirty Jack's is Singin' Again!

Cast of "Gorgeous George at George's Gorge" (Top: Kathy, David, Nancy, Scotty Seifert, Audry Berger, Darrin, Mark Nowlin. Bottom: Linda Gregg, Jill Calloway, Tommy and Rocky) Image courtesy of Kathy Stainbrook Myers.

[Post from David Turner]

Well my friends, it’s done!!!!!

As I’m writing this, it’s late on Friday night, but I am so hyped I can hardly stand it. The Original Cast Recording of “Gorgeous George at George’s Gorge” has been preserved digitally. It’s been a long journey, but at last, it’s done. Before I go any further, I have to say this first:

RICK ROCKS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

The transfer from the DAT to WAV is flawless, and we have Rick to thank for it. He tracked down a local studio that could do the transfer (DAT services are almost impossible to find these days), and after I gave him the tapes Wednesday at lunch, I had the CD in my hands on Friday afternoon. Wow. And I want everyone to know that Rick paid for this. I can’t thank him enough, and I mean that from the depths of my soul.

RICK ROCKS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

So all of you Dirty Jacksters send him a nice e-mail to say thank you. Please. He didn’t have to do this. Thank you.

OK.

Wow. That’s really about all I can say at this moment. I’ve been listening to the files all night, and it has been a revelation. I can’t remember when I heard this recording last – I haven’t seen my cassette since Chuck and I moved into this house (1998). I suspect that most of you are in the same boat. I’ll be burning CDs here in the next week, so if you’d like one send me your address at thequiltguy@yahoo.com and I’ll fire one off to you as soon as I can. (Jess, I still have your address buddy.) Also if any of you have any good pictures from the show, would you please scan them at a pretty high resolution and send them to me? Please oh please oh please.

Rick is going to post these snippets from the recording, but I’d like to add a few comments to them as well:

1) Starting Tonight: This little trio at the end was always a favorite of mine. I’m not sure we ever sang it this well on stage, but the recording sure sounds great!

2) The Wedding of Song and Dance: Tommy rocks. What else needs to be said? (Except that I had completely forgotten that I wrote this song. How bad is that????) Still, Tommy rocks.

3) Brightest Star: What an absolutely freakin’ spectacular voice Audrey has. Hearing her sing again has been a wonderful thing for me. The other thing I remember about this song is that it was the first and only time that Kathy let me put a ballad into the first act.

4) Backstage Babble: The most fun I’ve ever had as a writer. I wish I had the chance to write these types of songs every day.

5) The Romantic Winnemuckan: I don’t know what I think about it now, but I wanted to include something from it for the blog.

6) I’ve Seen It All: It was absolutely heartbreaking to hear Nancy singing again. At the same time, it was wonderful. Here with Linda Gregg and Kathy.

7) Brightest Star Reprise: I love the quality in Rocky’s voice in this.

8) In My Life: “I would say, trust in your friends, and always believe in yourself.” Not a great song by any means, but I still like the lyric. Maybe I’ll do a rewrite on this one.

9) Measure of a Life: Tommy sings it here as he did at Nancy’s memorial service. This one has taken on new meaning for me since my dad died in April ‘06. I miss him every day.

10) Song and Dance: Scotty and Jill having a grand old time!

I’ll wind this post up by again saying many, many thanks to Rick. It’s been quite the emotional rollercoaster for me tonight. What great times, what great friends. These were truly the best years of my life.

David

Popular posts from this blog

Tom DeWester

I once wrote in this blog about how intimidated I was by the slick and professional show at our competitor theater, the Pink Garter, back in 1976. I just didn’t see how our raucous and bawdy production of Paint Your Wagon could compare with their impressive and colorful Molly Brown. What I was really talking about – what I was really intimidated by – was Tom DeWester. Tom was the best actor I had ever seen, by several orders of magnitude. He was absolutely magnetic on the stage, with great looks, deft timing, a commanding voice, and a master craftsman’s instincts. He was absolutely sensational, and the show was so perfect and impressive I wondered if anyone would come see us a few blocks away. Tom has stayed busy on the stage, and I am not the only person he has wowed with his talent. I took a few minutes to Google Tom and found nothing but raves: (In no particular order) Tom DeWester is Count Dracula and he out Bela Lugosies Bela Lugosi, except nobody trembles in fear when DeWester&
Read more

Googling Dirty Jacks

Image
In the Summer of 1988... We ate al fresco in the town that evening at Sweetwaters and went to the 8 PM show at Dirty Jacks Wild West Theatre . It is a fun filled evening of hilarious wild west comedy. It is also very family friendly. At the time we happily attended their performance, they had been performing there for 17 years. Much laughter was heard throughout the comedy skit and we smiled for days thinking about the actors crazy antics on stage. You Grew Up in Jackson If... -If you know the difference between "Jackson" and "Jackson Hole", and laugh at people who don't! -If you know what "KSGT" stands for -If you ever ate at a restaurant called "Topper's" -If you remember what and where Kelly's Alley was, and ditto for Second Station -If you ever took a ski lesson from Pepi and learned the difference between carving and butchering your turns -If you went to the Cutter Races -If you ever hot-walked the polo ponies (that was a Girl Sc
Read more

Any Which Way You Can

Image
I was clicking through the cable channels the other day and saw this: Dirty Jack’s Theater on the Big Screen! Do you remember the movie Any Which Way You Can ? Part of it was filmed in Jackson Hole in the fall of 1980. I like the picture above because I watched this scene being filmed. Prudy and I stood on the lawn across from Dirty Jack's. Eastwood was running past us in the shot. There are lots of cool views of Jackson in the movie. You gotta watch around the action in the film to catch it. The movie is hokey but really funny; a lot like the shows at Dirty Jack’s Theater. I also like this shot of the old Teton Motel, now long gone. This was the place Jon Stainbrook housed many of the actors and musicians who worked in the 1979 show. I lived there all summer; swam in the pool; annoyed the other guests with my loud car stereo playing Poco and Nitty Gritty Dirt Band. I remember knowing friends who hired on as extras for the movie, but as I scan the crowd scenes I don’t yet see any f
Read more