{"id":441,"date":"2016-01-06T21:57:26","date_gmt":"2016-01-06T21:57:26","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.woas-fm.org\/?p=441"},"modified":"2016-01-28T02:32:18","modified_gmt":"2016-01-28T02:32:18","slug":"ftv-herbert-khaury","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.woas-fm.org\/?p=441","title":{"rendered":"FTV: Herbert Khaury"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Anyone remember the the game \u201cSix degrees of Kevin Bacon?\u201d \u00a0It essentially follows that any actor one can think of can be connected to actor\/musician Kevin Bacon in six or less steps (or degrees, if you will). \u00a0It is an adaptation of the old parlour game that says that any two people on Earth are six (or less than six) acquaintance links apart. \u00a0I laughed when people started doing this based on Bacon\u2019s movie career because it is a game I have played in my head for years. \u00a0In my version, I like to find links with people I have encountered or places I have been. \u00a0Little did I realize that it is a concept that some people take quite seriously.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0What does Kevin Bacon think about the whole idea? \u00a0<\/span>“I was horrified by it. I thought it was a giant joke at my expense . . . (but) I appreciate it now. But I was very resistant to it (at first).” \u00a0Here is an \u00a0example for actor Julie Harris in the Bacon Game: \u00a0\u00a0<\/span>Julie Harris was in <\/span>The Split<\/span><\/i> with Duane Grey who was in <\/span>JFK<\/span><\/i> with Kevin Bacon giving her a Bacon score of 2 degrees. \u00a0I am told it rarely takes six degrees to make a connection. \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0When I was a dishwasher at the Huron Mountain Club, I heard a quiet \u2018excuse me\u2019 from behind me and turned to find the same Julie Harris standing ten feet away from me in my little Hobart dishwashing machine room. \u00a0Apparently she had just arrived for her stay at the club but it was after hours at the club store. \u00a0\u00a0She was in need of a quart of milk, which I proceeded to get for her from the kitchen pantry. \u00a0She thanked me and went on her way while I returned to my pile of dishes from the dinner rush. \u00a0\u00a0If her Bacon score is \u20182\u2019, does that make mine a \u20183\u2019? \u00a0I should also admit that at that point I did not realize I was dealing with the same woman who starred in the original version of <\/span>The Haunting, <\/span><\/i>won acclaim for her stage turn as <\/span>Mary Todd Lincoln, <\/span><\/i>and would eventually play Lilly Mae on TV\u2019s <\/span>Falcon Crest? \u00a0<\/span><\/i>\u00a0I only knew her as an extremely polite person dressed in a flannel shirt (whom I could barely see over the top of the silverware cart as she was a rather diminutive person) seeking a bottle of milk. \u00a0I found out otherwise when I was besieged by the waitress crew who wanted to know \u201cwhat she was like.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0So, what exactly does this have to do with <\/span>Herbert Khaury (born – April 12, 1932 \u2013died – \u00a0November 30, 1996)? \u00a0 It was either Barry the guitar player or Mike the bass player in my band Sledgehammer who came to rehearsal one afternoon and said, \u201cwe can get a three night gig in Negaunee if we agree to backup Herbert Khaury on the first night.\u201d \u00a0In other words, if we played \u201cbacking band\u201d for solo artist Khaury for two sets, we could play the other two sets on Thursday and then also have all of Friday and Saturday to ourselves. \u00a0I had played in this particular establishment with my previous band, but we had not been able to get a foot in the door with Sledgehammer. \u00a0Two of us were not keen on the idea so we debated the subject for a couple of weeks and finally relented when the lure of a three night gig on an open weekend was just too good to turn down. \u00a0We did not really relish the thought of being a \u201cbacking band\u201d but we convinced ourselves that it would be much like what Chuck Berry was doing at the time. \u00a0Berry would roll into a town with his guitar, plug in with whatever band the promoter had lined up, play his show, collect his dough, and depart. \u00a0This would also account for the uneven performances Berry was known for: \u00a0not every backing band he worked with was up to the performing standards one would like them to be for an icon like Berry. \u00a0We decided, \u201cHey, we can do this\u201d and had Mike or Barry get in touch with the club owner.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Our long running debate came to naught when the club owner informed us that the gig had been cancelled. \u00a0If it hadn\u2019t, I would have had a Bacon score of \u20181\u2019 with Herbert Khaury. \u00a0Did I happen to mention Khaury\u2019s stage name? \u00a0You may know him better as \u201cTiny Tim.\u201d \u00a0Yes, we almost got to be the backing band for Tiny Tim. \u00a0Yes, the same Tiny Tim who made a career out of warbling\u00a0<\/span>Tiptoe Through the Tulips<\/span><\/i> in his unique, falsetto voice while playing a ukulele left handed (but strung right handed) . \u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Khaury discovered his knack for singing with his falsetto voice in 1952, but he didn\u2019t become Tiny Tim until 1962. \u00a0The moniker was bestowed upon him by a manager who had booked him into a club that favored entertainers who were short in stature (which the long and lanky Khaury was not). \u00a0His career got an added boost when he became a semi-regular punch line via numerous appearances on <\/span>Rowan and Martin\u2019s Laugh-In. \u00a0<\/span><\/i>Johnny Carson was enough of a fan (or knew a ratings grabber when we saw one) to host Tim\u2019s first wedding to Miss Vicki on <\/span>The Tonight Show <\/span><\/i>in 1969 (with an audience of 40 million tuning in).<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Always the trooper, \u00a0made a comeback after a post-perforTimmance heart attack he suffered \u00a0in Massachusetts in September of 1996. \u00a0He ignored his doctor\u2019s orders to take better care of himself and went back on the road only to suffer a fatal heart attack during a performance at the Women\u2019s Club of Minneapolis, Minnesota on November 30, 1996. \u00a0He is interred in<\/span><\/span> a masausoleum<\/span>\u00a0in Lakewood Cemetery<\/span>\u00a0in that city.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0I can\u2019t say I was real excited about the Tiny Tim gig, and was actually quite relieved when it didn\u2019t happen, but somewhere in the back of my mind I still wonder \u201cwhat kind of gig would that have been?\u201d \u00a0Of course, we didn\u2019t get the three night gig at the club, either, but that is the way it goes sometimes. \u00a0Rest in peace, Herbert Khaury. \u00a0I wonder what his Kevin Bacon score would have been? <\/span><\/p>\n

The video says it all . . . I could have been on stage with Herbert Khaury!\u00a0<\/span>