FZ interacting with Daniel Schorr at NPR
Hoodoo
mention of his meeting with Schorr.
- - -
This Is Daniel Schorr
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=128737596
July 24, 2010
Jews sit shiva when a loved one dies. Since I'm also half Irish, maybe
I'm permitted to explain that shiva is like an Irish wake, with more
food than drinking. And the morning after Dan Schorr's death, I want to
tell some funny stories about him.
I am glad that the man so famous for winding up on Richard Nixon's White
House enemies' list, and giving Nikita Khrushchev no quarter in an
interview, was also revealed on this show as playful, even whimsical,
and kind.
He sang in the studio before we went on: German opera to Marx Brothers
nonsense songs, and he laughed when our engineers covered their ears and
clipped his mic.
He wrote notes. In a time when people thumb short, ill-spelled text
messages for most every major life event, Dan took to his typewriter and
clacked out condolence notes when one of us on staff lost a parent, or
notes of approval when he heard a story he liked.
One of NPR's foreign correspondents remembers how much it meant for her
to open an envelope in a far-off place and read a short, encouraging
note from Dan Schorr. He'd been posted overseas, in Cold War Moscow and
Berlin, in the days before e-mail and knew how much it meant to get a
note that said, "We're listening."
But even after he had to use a walker to get into our studio, Dan
scrapped for airtime. With the wiles of a veteran correspondent and the
street smarts of his Bronx youth, Dan competed for every single second.
He called once when 15 seconds of one of his pieces had to be cut.
"News happened, Dan," I told him. "We had to make room. Look, my stuff
gets trimmed all the time. It's just the business, Dan."
"I admire your attitude," Dan said. "I don't share it, but I admire it."
One day we all saw a man in a fine pinstripe suit in Dan's office,
wearing a ponytail that nearly reached the floor.
"Oh, Scott," Dan said with elaborate composure. "You know Frank Zappa."
He had come to ask Dan to join him and his band, the Mothers of
Invention, on a project. We rushed into Dan's office as soon as Zappa's
ponytail turned the corner.
"Frank's a highly intelligent man," Dan told us. "Highly intelligent."
"Well, yes," we said. "Have you heard his music?"
"Not yet," said Dan. "He gave me his CDs. I might listen to one tonight."
"Dan, if you haven't heard Frank Zappa's music, how do you know that
he's highly intelligent?"
Dan twinkled and said, "Oh — because he came to ask me for advice."
Broadcasting is a business that causes a lot of good people to burn out.
But for almost a century, Dan Schorr blazed: with fire and warmth. How
he shined.
--
Trout Mask Replica
KFJC.org, WFMU.org, WMSE.org, or WUSB.org;
because the pigoenholed programming of music channels
on Sirius Satellite, and its internet radio player, suck
Hoodoo
(Central Daylight Time), spoke thusly:
> Audio clip on the webpage. No actual FZ content within the clip, just
> a mention of his meeting with Schorr. - - -
>
> This Is Daniel Schorr
>
> http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=128737596
>
> July 24, 2010
Better yet, with FZ included in the audio:
Daniel Schorr And Frank Zappa Were Friends. Really.
July 24, 2010
Frank Zappa and NPR’s Daniel Schorr were indeed friends, and at one of
his concerts in 1988, he invited Dan to join him onstage. Host Scott
Simon pays a final tribute to Daniel Schorr with a remembrance of
Schorr's unlikely friendship with rocker Frank Zappa.
SCOTT SIMON, host:
And now we close our show with a last memory of Dan Schorr, who told us
once he wanted what you're about to hear played at his funeral.
(Soundbite of music)
Mr. FRANK ZAPPA (Musician): Hey, have we got a show for you tonight, our
last night here in Washington, D.C.
SIMON: Frank Zappa and Dan were friends. At one of his concerts in 1988,
he invited Dan to join him on stage.
Mr. ZAPPA: Anyway, you know why Daniel is here tonight? We have
something we're very concerned about, which is voter registration, and
Daniel wants to say a few words to you about that.
SIMON: The crowd was more mosh pit than "Meet the Press," but Dan got
their attention.
DAN SCHORR: What has happened in the past 15, 20 years or so is that
elections have turned into a kind of a spectator sport, like the Super
Bowl. The result is that you're going to find out that somebody's voting
for someone you don't want. Write down your name, make sure that in this
next election you vote - it may be important. Your life may depend on it.
Mr. ZAPPA: You bet.
SCHORR: Thank you.
SIMON: Frank Zappa then revealed a scoop.
Mr. ZAPPA: Now, we know that you can talk - you just proved that you can
talk and you talk every day on the radio - but I've heard that you can sing.
SCHORR: Oh, come on. Sing? Oh no.
Mr. ZAPPA: I know that before you became a reporter you were actually a
classical music reviewer.
SCHORR: You are an investigative reporter yourself. How'd you find that out?
Mr. ZAPPA: You told me. No - but that was a long time ago when you told
me and you forgot you told me. But anyway, we have spared no expense,
ladies and gentlemen, including a long rehearsal this afternoon, to make
it possible for you to actually give us a rendition of "It Ain't
Necessarily So."
SCHORR: "It Ain't Nec" - hey, listen, I want you not to tell anybody at
NPR. I don't want you telling anybody at CBS. I was hired as a
newscaster. If they hear that I sang, I'm ruined, all right?
Mr. ZAPPA: I don't know about that. Here we go.
SCHORR: Here we go.
(Soundbite of music)
SCHORR: (Singing) It ain't necessarily so, it ain't necessarily so. They
tell you all chillun' that devil's a villain, but it ain't necessarily so.
Mr. ZAPPA: Everybody.
(Soundbite of cheering)
Mr. ZAPPA: Second verse.
(Soundbite of music)
SCHORR: (Singing) If Moses was found in a stream, little Moses was found
in a stream. He floated on water until old Pharaoh's daughter, she
fished him, she sang from that stream.
(Soundbite of music)
Mr. ZAPPA: Daniel Schorr, ladies and gentlemen, singer extraordinaire.
SCHORR: (Singing) I convinced her (unintelligible), it ain't nessa,
ain't nessa, ain't nessa, ain't nessa, ain't necessarily so.
(Soundbite of music)
Mr. ZAPPA: Daniel Schorr, ladies and gentlemen.
SIMON: Dan Schorr, who died yesterday after packing about as much life
as a man can into 93 years.
This is WEEKEND EDITION from NPR News. I'm Scott Simon.
Hoodoo
(Central Daylight Time), spoke thusly:
> Better yet, with FZ included in the audio:
>
> Daniel Schorr And Frank Zappa Were Friends. Really.
>
> July 24, 2010
>
> Frank Zappa and NPR’s Daniel Schorr were indeed friends, and at one
> of his concerts in 1988, he invited Dan to join him onstage. Host
> Scott Simon pays a final tribute to Daniel Schorr with a remembrance
> of Schorr's unlikely friendship with rocker Frank Zappa.
Oops, the link be:
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=128738162
computeruser
I heard: I'm preaching this sermon to show, it ain't nessa, ain't
