Obit: Tommy Newsom - sax player

Subject: Obit: Tommy Newsom - sax player
From: Wesley S
Date: 30 Apr 07 - 05:18 PM

This story is fom CNN:

PORTSMOUTH, Virginia (AP) -- Tommy Newsom, the former backup bandleader on "The Tonight Show" whose "Mr. Excitement" nickname was a running joke for Johnny Carson, has died. He was 78.

Newsom died of cancer Saturday at his home in Portsmouth, the city of his birth, according to his nephew, Jim Newsom.

Newsom, who played saxophone, joined "The Tonight Show" in 1962 and rose from band member to assistant music director. He retired along with Carson in 1992.

Newsom won music direction Emmys for "Night of 100 Stars" in 1982 and "The 40th Annual Tony Awards Show" in 1986. "The Tonight Show" received five Emmy awards during Newsom's years on it.

"I hope he will be remembered as a gifted musician," Jim Newsom said Monday in a telephone interview. "I'm sure he will be remembered for his wit and deadpan humor on 'The Tonight Show.' And to some of us a certain age, he will always be remembered as Mr. Excitement."

That was the name Carson gave Newsom to make light of his low-key personality and drab brown and blue suits -- a sharp contrast to the flashy style of bandleader Doc Severinsen.

"He became a running character in Carson's monologue," Jim Newsom said. "Tommy enjoyed that."

Not long after the Carson era ended in 1992, Newsom remarked that his image as an ordinary guy was "fairly accurate -- compared to Rambo."

"I realize things have to end sometime," Newsom said at the time. "I felt regrets at it ending and there was a sense of relief in a way."

Along with his work on "The Tonight Show," Newsom arranged and composed music for Skitch Henderson, Woody Herman, Kenny Rogers, John Denver and other performers.

He also released several albums as a bandleader, including "Live From Beautiful Downtown Burbank" in 1978 and "I Remember You, Johnny" in 1996.

Newsom was born in 1929 and got his first horn for Christmas at age 8. He graduated from the Peabody Conservatory in Baltimore, then toured with a U.S. Air Force jazz ensemble during a four-year enlistment.

Before landing his "Tonight" gig, he toured the Soviet Union and South America with Benny Goodman and played in "The Merv Griffin Show" orchestra.

Newsom is survived by his wife of 50 years, Patricia, and their daughter, Candy Newsom.

Subject: RE: Obit: Tommy Newsom - sax player
From: catspaw49
Date: 30 Apr 07 - 05:31 PM

Back in the day......Met Tommy on several occasions when he was in Columbus and played with his group on two occasions in 1970 and again in 1972. A reall good guy not nearly so straight as often portrayed and a fine reed man......spoke Alto well.

I'd heard thru John Harner he was probably short time. Goodbye Tommy.....You were a great one.

Spaw

Subject: RE: Obit: Tommy Newsom - sax player
From: Wesley S
Date: 30 Apr 07 - 05:40 PM

I seem to remember that Tommy did a lot the arrangements for the Tonight Show band.

Subject: RE: Obit: Tommy Newsom - sax player
From: catspaw49
Date: 01 May 07 - 08:12 AM

He was pretty well known as an arranger and also fronted the Tonight Show Band when Doc was out and about. He toured himself much like Severinson did with a core band adding local pickup players...Clark Terry did this too.

Not to diss anyone since, but the Severinson band on the Tonight Show was about as good as you could get. Go down the list of members and you have some of the very best coast guys in that group. It also offered the best of all worlds to a musician.....a steady gig, reasonable hours with plenty of time to do your own thing, top scale pay. The actual turnover was small.

For most of them the options were studio, the road, and Vegas. The Tonight Show gig covered all those in spades. And then if something great came up you could do a month in Vegas for instance and probably come right back. Like I say, they used temp guys to fill in and the actual turnover was pretty small.

Spaw

Subject: RE: Obit: Tommy Newsom - sax player
From: catspaw49
Date: 01 May 07 - 08:23 AM

Hey Wes......Here's something kinda' neat. A January, 2005 performance on Letterman with Doc and Ed O'Shaughnessy. Whta's cool here is that they all still had it and that Doc is on Fluegelhorn and Tommy on Tenor. BTW, YouTube also has one of Tommy's arrangements.

Doc, Tommy, and Ed on Letterman

Spaw

Subject: RE: Obit: Tommy Newsom - sax player
From: GUEST
Date: 01 May 07 - 08:41 AM

He has a star on the sidewalk in Norfolk, VA along with Ella Fitzgerald, Pearl Bailey, Clarence Clemons, Ruth Brown and some others from the area.

Subject: RE: Obit: Tommy Newsom - sax player
From: Wesley S
Date: 01 May 07 - 09:05 AM

I don't get youtube here at work but I remember watching that performace.

Subject: RE: Obit: Tommy Newsom - sax player
From: gnu
Date: 02 May 07 - 08:40 AM

Just saw this. He was a joy! RIP.