Thursday, May 27, 2010

Forgotten Music -- Eddie Fisher

Eddie Fisher, who's still with us, was one of the biggest pop stars of the 1950s. He had an incredible career (forty-five Top 40 hits in that decade), was a regular on a number of variety shows (including two of his own), and was married at one time or another to Debbie Reynolds (Carrie Fisher is their daughter), Elizabeth Taylor, and Connie Stevens (Joley Fisher is their daughter). He starred in movies with boy Reynolds and Taylor. Time and musical fashions passed him by, and he couldn't adapt. His well-publicized drug and alcohol problems didn't help. He's spent the last 50 years in relative obscurity. But when he was on top, he had some great hits. He was one of the last of the crooners, and one of the best.

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

There's a devastating portrayal of him (but funny!) in Carrie Fisher's book (and play) Wishful Drinking.

Jeff

Todd Mason said...

Joely Fisher. The women he helped bring into the world even more striking than the women he dallied with.

He and Dean Martin were among the last of the big hitmakers who weren't particularly jazz-influenced...but folks ranging from Manilow to Jim Morrison (!) were certainly listening to them, and the likes of Josh Groban to Eddie Vedder to them...the traditions never disappear.

Anonymous said...

Eddie Fisher had the greatest voice of all of the singers. His voice on the early 50's Coke Times is amazing. I wish someone would release for sale all of his TV shows. I would buy them in a minute.
WHAT A VOICE!

I have several of his Coke Times on Tape and have shown them to the younger generation and they say "who is that guy and I didn't know anyone could sing like that".

Charlie Ricci said...

You're right! Fisher had a great voice. I watched him on TV a lot in the 60s before he disappeared for good. It's hard to believe that, with that naturally great voice, he couldn't make a comeback years later when people's minds re-opened to music that was considered corny after The Beatles hit it big. It's a shame that he'll die in musical obscurity.

Although his life took a different and more productive turn than Fisher's my upcoming entry for FORGOTTEN MUSIC THURSDAY is about another singer who stopped making music 35 years ago and just made the news this week for the first time in a long time.