"The Great American Fourth of July and Other Disasters&

[tofu]

Below is a quote from a review I came across on "The Great American Fourth of July and Other Disasters" a movie from 1982 by Jean Shepard.

So does anybody know if Matt Dillon really is a tuba player?

"This is a must see film about the Fourth of July. I can only hope someone out there will be able to put it out every Independence Day because it represents what this holiday is all about in the Heartland of America. Jean Shepherd did himself good.

So many subplots surround this TV movie. The one which got my attention was seeing a young Matt Dillon try to play the sousaphone. While most actors have actual musicians play when they are on an instrument, I am convinced it was Dillon himself who played that large tuba by himself."

[LOTP]

I don't know about Matt Dillon, but I'm pretty sure Jean Shepard (Shepherd?) was a tuba tooter (local 802) .

Paul

[Rick Denney]

Below is a quote from a review I came across on "The Great American Fourth of July and Other Disasters" a movie from 1982 by Jean Shepard.

It won't be easy to find out. The movie was made for TV and is owned by WGBH in Boston who does not offer it for sale. It is shown so rarely that few have seen it. I know I haven't. Too bad.

Rick "a fan of the book" Denney

[Rick Denney]

I'm sure I've got a VHS copy of it around. I try to dig it up. The movie isn't all that hot. Jean's writing about the drum major cutting the power by tossing the baton into the high-tension wires is better imagined in the mind than seen in the film.

That's usually the case, especially with someone who writes as cleverly as Jean Shepard. So much of his stuff is entertaining because of the way he writes it.

Rick "I AM THE BLIND DATE" Denney

[Chuck(G)]

RThe movie isn't all that hot. Jean's writing about the drum major cutting the power by tossing the baton into the high-tension wires is better imagined in the mind than seen in the film.

Shep made a series for PBS years ago called "Jean Shepherd's America". I didn't think his visual productions are up to his usual level, though his "A Christmas Story" is still shown.

Like Ray Bradbury, I think Shep's stuff is best read or listened to. His old programs from WOR were priceless. Here's one called "Halftime Sousaphone":

http://shep-archives.com/netjuke/play.p ... ay&val=108

[Chuck(G)]

It's a riot (going to prom and the ensuing disasters) as are his other works......

That'd be "Wanda Hickey's Night of Golden Memories", right? The establishment in Hammond (IN) where I grew up took a very long time to admit that Shep was one of theirs.

[Paul Scott]

Shep's collection "In God We Trust, All Others Pay Cash" is one of my favorites, (especially the chapter on Wilbur Duckworth and his Magic Baton-an alternate name for Stinky Wilson). In the book he specifically refers to himself playing a 4-valve Conn sousaphone. Great reading from perhaps the last great Amercian storyteller, (Garrison Keillor has nothing on him).

I listened to him on WOR until he went off the air in the '70s.

[Tom Holtz]

Like Ray Bradbury, I think Shep's stuff is best read or listened to. His old programs from WOR were priceless. Here's one called "Halftime Sousaphone":

http://shep-archives.com/netjuke/play.p ... ay&val=108

Now this is a link. Boy, there's some great stuff here. I only knew the books, I never heard the broadcasts. Thank you, Chuck.

I do remember seeing a TV show version of one of the stories, where a young Jean Shepard is talking to a cute girl, but he's got his tuba with him, and Shep, doing the narrating, says, "It's hard to look casual with a double Bb sousaphone draped over your shoulder." James Sikking played the father... was this the PBS series?

[Paul Scott]

The PBS series that I remember was called "Shepherd's Pie". The show was oriented to New Jersey and Shep would visit various oddball locations, (The Route 22 Flagship, the Gingerbread Castle, traffic circles, etc.) peculiar to the Garden State. The theme for the show was "The Jersey Bounce" played by a tuba ensemble. It was fluff compared to his writings but nice fluff, (and certainly on a higher level than most of the stuff on TV now, PBS included). I remember it being on around 1977 or 78.