The hit songwriter sang bass with the doo-wop group The Crowns; he switched to lead vocals when they became The Drifters. King got his start at Harlem's Apollo Theater before finding national fame. As a solo performer, he had hits with original songs like "Stand by Me" and "Spanish Harlem."
New Fresh Air performer-in-residence Dick Hyman plays some of the music of Jelly Roll Morton. Hyman says the pianist and composer bridged the gap between ragtime and jazz, incorporating the phrasing and style of wind and reed players.
Rock critic Ken Tucker remembers the songs that defined the season. Standouts for him were Steve Winwood's beer commercial anthem, Public Enemy's new album, and an edgy ballad by Crowded House.
The actor left India to study in England; he says there were no opportunities to hone his craft in his home country. Despite personal discrimination and early difficulties finding race-approriate roles, Saeed refused to become bitter; he says harboring that emotion would have hurt his acting. He stars in the new film The Deceivers.
Eight Men Out, about a 1919 baseball scandal, is directed by John Sayles. Film critic Stephen Schiff says there are some good performances, but the movie is more of a moralistic argument than a story; it could have used some of the wit Sayles injected into his earlier B-movies.
Language commentator Geoff Nunberg recently visited the Language in Art Since 1960 exhibit at New York's Whitney Museum. He says the work he saw revealed how words in art can create dynamic social commentary in a way distinct from text on a page.
Father Ralph Beiting's ministry serves the poor of the Appalachian region, which he says was overlooked by the reforms and social programs of the 1960s. He links poverty to the degradation of family life. Despite the difficulties associated with his work, Beiting has fallen in love with the area and its people.
Edward Hirsch was an All-American football player in college -- at the same time he became interested in poetry. He talks about how insomnia, sports, and restlessness affect his life and writing. He reads several poems for Fresh Air listeners.
Classical music critic Lloyd Schwartz reviews the Chicago Symphony Orchestra's recording of Charles Ives' Holidays Symphony, which draws its inspiration from four different American holidays. Ives incorporates folks songs, traditional music, and the background noise of everyday life into his compositions, often to haunting effect.
Book critic John Leonard reviews Roth's new autobiography, which includes imagined critiques of the author by some of his recurring characters. Leonard says it's an interesting but tiresome exploration of Roth's neuroses and thematic predilections.
Baker stars opposite Michael Keaton in the new movie Clean and Sober. Previously, she played a sex worker in Street Smart, which gained popularity after its home video release. Baker didn't start acting until she was in her thirties.
The Israeli author's new novel is about a man descended from both a Jewish Holocaust survivor and a Palestinian aristocrat. While Kaniuk fought for the Israeli War for Independence, he also signed -- along with other Israeli and Arab intellectuals and artists -- an agreement advocating for Palestinian independence.
Rock historian Ed Ward says "scrunch" is that romantic longing you feel as summer races toward its end. He talks about the songs that typified this phenomenon for him over the decades.
The veteran journalist is also considered one of the founders of neoliberalism. Peters says more people can, like him, do what they love for a living if they focus less on money and more on the work. By choice, Peters pays himself a modest salary--less than what many reporters make today.
Hesseman played disc jockey Dr. Johnny Fever in WKRP in Cincinnati, and now stars as a high school teacher in the comedy Head of the Class. He tells Fresh Air's Terry Gross about how his performances and personal experiences inform each other. Early in his career, Hesseman sold two ounces of marijuana to an undercover police officer; he later had his record expunged.
PBS will soon air the documentary Missile, about the fourteen-week training program for launch operators. TV critic David Bianculli says it gives real life context to the hit film Wargames. Director Frederick Wiseman's signature eschewing of interviews sometimes detracts from the narrative, but the movie is overall worth watching.
Before his death, Benny Goodman gave Yale University five truckloads of his recordings, which are now being released on compact disc. Jazz critic Kevin Whitehead reviews the first volume, which he says blends the facile in Goodman's music with the raw.
Critics and network executives hated it, but fans loved Gilligan's Island; it's been on the air for twenty-five years. Show creator and writer Sherwood Schwartz -- who also wrote the Brady Bunch and My Favorite Martian -- has a new book about the program, called Inside Gilligan's Island.
Critic and homeowner Ken Tucker reviews an instructional video about basic home repair, which enthralled him with the actors' calm, zombie-like performances. Tucker also recommends VHS releases of Cry Freedom and Tampopo.
Film critic Stephen Schiff says that Michael Keaton is too good an actor to star in Clean and Sober, a movie that focuses more on problems than characters. Schiff says the film feels like it was made for TV, rather than the big screen.
