A ham is born

The thought of introducing Benny Goodman in Lincoln Center made him quake. Would whiskey or talent pull him through?

By Jim Aylward, Special to the Times
Published November 27, 2007

It was 25 years ago this month.

I was very nervous about it because I had a history of staying out of the spotlight. When you do a daily radio show, "they" don't see you, you don't see "them."

You don't have to dress in a tux. "They" can be in their bathrobes or even in the altogether, and nobody is offended.

But . . . to see an entire theater full of "them," looking at you, and whispering to each other - "Oh, my! I didn't know he was so tall!" - that was a little knee-shaking for an only child from Woburn, Mass., son of Nell and Edgar.

I was always shy, and so radio seemed a good fit, but on Nov. 15, 1982, at 7:30 p.m., I walked out on the stage at Avery Fisher Hall in Lincoln Center, New York City, and hosted a memorial concert. It included an appearance by the legendary Benny Goodman, and the presentation of a gold record to Goodman. Broadway's Phyllis Newman was on the bill, and the U.S. Military Band, and top recording artists Los Indios Tabajaros of Maria Elena fame.

Showtime countdown

I had done some fortifying earlier at O'Neals' Balloon across the street. When the producer who asked me to host the evening, my friend Ethel Gabriel, and I walked into the empty hall, I said, "What a nice little theater!"

It was O'Neals' whiskey and water talking, and I don't think the water had much to do with it.

By showtime I was wishing I were hiding in some secure location where no one could find me.

The libations hadn't worked. Back stage was buzzing. I somehow managed to get into my tux, and get my hair sprayed to TV-anchor heights. Then a so-called friend of mine, a record producer, came to wish me well. e said that Al "Jazzbo" Collins, the famous name from radio station WNEW, was his guest in the audience, and wouldn't it be wonderful if I let Al Collins introduce Benny Goodman because they knew each other.

I said to him, "I can't believe you would ask me to do that! If you want me to introduce Collins and put the spotlight on him, fine, but I'm not going to let him take over the show." So much for Mr. Nice Guy.

Finally the lights dimmed, the musicians were onstage, and the show began with the Presentation of the Colors, the National Anthem and then, as the program suggested, "Jim Aylward, An Evening To Remember."

The music stopped. I walked out to scattered applause led by the show's producers. As my songwriter friend, Dave Godwin, told me later, "I could tell you were nervous when you came out, but it only lasted a second, and then you got it."

I "got it" so much that at intermission, I stayed on the apron of the stage and signed autographs and chatted with the audience - "them."

Jim Aylward, Mr. Hambone.

A record icebreaker

The thing that made the Goodman introduction special for me was a record album - one of those 12-inch 78s - that my mother and father had bought me for Christmas when I was 17.

I showed that album to the audience. It was called A Symposium of Swing, and the artists were Benny Goodman, Tommy Dorsey, Fats Waller and Bunny Berigan.

I opened the album cover and read my mother's inscription:

"To Jimmy, Christmas 1948, from two lovely people."

The audience laughed.

And then I was able to say, "As my mother and father introduced me to great music, it's my pleasure now, all these years later, to introduce to you, Mr. Benny Goodman."

Goodman thanked me, nodded to the standing audience and played as sweetly and as effortlessly as he had done for years.

Later I presented him his gold record. It was one of his last appearances.

As I mentioned, I was most always a reluctant celebrity, but I managed to have my moments. Benny Goodman and Lincoln Center, on Nov. 15, 1982, was one.

New Port Richey resident Jim Aylward was formerly a nationally syndicated columnist and radio host in New York City. Write to him in care of LifeTimes, St. Petersburg Times, P.O. Box 1121, St. Petersburg, FL 33731.

[Last modified November 26, 2007, 15:55:09]