I’m saddened to hear of the death of Tommy Smothers at the age of 86. He and his brother Dick had what must have been one of the longest-lasting two-person acts in show business history.
As a longtime fan, I was thrilled to talk with Tommy on my radio show on March 23, 2007, to promote an upcoming show he and Dick would perform. I took my wife and daughter to see them, and we had a great time. He even welcomed us backstage afterwards to pose for a photo, which I have in a box somewhere in my basement.
Among the topics we discussed on the air:
- how their act was really less about politics than about the witty banter between two clever siblings;
- how they recorded one of their albums at the Crystal Palace in St. Louis in 1962;
- how CBS, which fired the brothers in 1969, demanded more controversy from them when they returned to the network for another series in the 1980s;
- the classic performance of “My Generation” by The Who, followed by some explosive pyrotechnics that caused Pete Townshend’s permanent hearing loss (as seen in the documentary “The Kids Are Alright”);
- Tommy playing guitar with John Lennon on “Give Peace A Chance” in which he had to give the former Beatle a lesson in how to play it correctly;
- why The Smothers Brothers have such a hard time getting booked on Letterman, Leno, etc.
Listen to the conversation here.
Also on Harris Online…