Biography
Friends and Family
Peter Thomas
[Friend]
Trivia and Quotes
Quotes
 Now I`m fortunate to have a good band in CA, and play many solo gigs as well. My point is that I stopped playing in bands and played solo for four years, to get back into the groove and pulse of writing and singing and who I am on stage. I`m proud to pay taxes in the United States; the only thing is, I could be just as proud for half the money.
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It`s not an act, it`s just my way.
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If I go to a seminar and someone like you or someone like him is talking, I`m never part of the group that rushes him directly afterward. I always wait in the back corner with my head down until everyone is gone, and then I go up and do my thing.
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I`d just hit the Billboard thing, and I had a good feeling. About a month ago, I received a call that said I was in the running, that I`d made the final 25. So I just wanted to place.
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The biggest deal for me was that all 24 winners are placed on the Billboard CD of the Year, which went out to 500 of the biggest Music Reps in the business, from radio and press to management and booking.
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I know how I like to be treated, so I always start by saying, `Could you give me a moment of your time, I know you`re very busy,` and usually, they will.
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I was in one of the touristy country bars downtown, and I asked a guy onstage who was playing for tips to play a Hank Williams song.
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As corny as it may sound, my true goal was to crack the Americana market.
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I`ve been playing music all my life, from being a choir soloist at Symphony Hall as a youngster to playing in bands through high school and college at Kent State. Went in the service at 17, out before I was 21.
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I will tell you that I don`t do the pretty boy thing. I`m more often compared to Tom Waits, Bruce Springsteen, Joe Cocker sort of thing.
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You know, if you don`t do nothin, you don`t do nothin.
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Married and divorced, three beautiful daughters, two in college. The other one is 16, lives with her mom. I`m 46, I`ve worked for the Post Office for 18 years, seven facilities in three states.
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I love Nashville. I was down there recently, and I was talking to all the cab drivers, they`re all songwriters, everybody`s a songwriter down there.
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I explained to the lady my love for John and his work, and she made it possible for me to purchase one of the 24 proofs, the one for `I`m So Tired,` which I have on my piano at home.
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I liked the way they treated the first, second, and third place finishers equally. It was an amazing year. I only entered two song contests this year; I won one and placed second in the other. And I entered each of them a day or two before the deadline.
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He asked if I was a songwriter, and I said yeah, that I was in town because I`d won this contest. He said, okay, then he was gonna play me his hit, and started singing `When it`s time to relax, one beer stands clear... `
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I really believe in myself. I`m the hardest worker I know, and one of the best songwriters. There`s a craft to it, and it takes a long time to hone it, and I work really hard at it.
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You know, it sounds corny, but I believe in myself. And I work hard.
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You get a letter from her agency embracing you into the family that says, `It is our goal now to help you achieve your dream of being a songwriter, in John`s memory.`
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Trivia
He was awarded 3 Stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame for Radio at 6233 Hollywood Boulevard; for Recording at 6616 Hollywood Boulevard; and for Television at 1559 Vine Street in Hollywood, California.
He once remarked on his television show that, when told they had booked Tommy Leonetti, he thought that it was a trio called "Tommy, Lee and Eddie.".
Is portrayed by Bruce Kirby in Sweet Dreams (1985).
Was an avid amateur (ham) radio operator with the call sign K4LIB. This call is now owned by the Arthur Godfrey Fan Club, which runs an annual ham event in honour of his memory.
Was thought to have been at least the partial inspiration for the character of Larry "Lonesome" Rhodes in Elia Kazan`s film A Face in the Crowd (1957). The character of Rhodes was that of a popular TV personality whose folksy image covered up the fact that he was a vicious, manipulative bully privately.
He was rated as a Naval Aviator in 1950 (his previous attempts to serve during the war were thwarted by a leg injury). He was certified to fly virtually every type of aircraft in existence during his lifetime (rotor, jet, multiple engine, helicopter, holding FAA type ratings from the DC-3 to the Constellation) and was an honorary pilot for Eastern Airlines. He appeared in a 1953 Eastern Airlines film with famed pilot Dick Merrill at the helm of a Constellation. His friend Capt. Eddie Rickenbacker gave him a customized DC-3 in 1947, which he more than returned in kind through plugs for the airline along with his endorsements about flying safety to his millions of flying-wary listeners during the 1940s.
Steve Allen, Eddy Arnold and Joe E. Brown served as substitute hosts/performers on "Talent Scouts" (1948) and on "Arthur Godfrey and His Friends" (1949).
After years of being a popular radio personality in Washington, DC, Godfrey tried to get the top execs at CBS Radio to air his radio show on the full network. They turned him down, claiming that he was strictly a local host. However, on April 12, 1945, the network needed someone to serve as commentator for the funeral of President Franklin Delano Roosevelt, and Godfrey was assigned to host the sad event. His remarks were so sincere and heartfelt that CBS finally gave him a nationally broadcast talk/variety series.
He made his radio debut in the mid-`20s on a radio talent show as a banjo player and singer. He later hosted his own musical/variety program, "Red Godfrey The Warbling Banjoist & His Uklelee Club.
Inducted into the Ukulele Hall of Fame in 2001.
He was inducted into the Radio Hall of Fame in 1988.
At his TV peak in 1953, he starred in three different television shows simultaneously -- "Arthur Godfrey and His Friends" (1949), "Talent Scouts" (1948), and "Arthur Godfrey Time".
He was known for finding and grooming young, undiscovered talent. But he insisted on loyalty and absolute control over their careers. One of his bigger finds, singer Julius LaRosa, was unceremoniously fired by a very gracious-sounding Godfrey ON THE AIR simply because the up-and-comer found himself an agent. Godfrey`s popularity soon declined after the incident -- his "nice guy" public image irreparably damaged.
Arthur piloted his own plane and was an early pioneer and promoter of civil aviation.
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