Songs that use the cello

Gene Jones · Post by **Gene Jones** » 23 Oct 2001 11:26 am

That cello picture reminds me of the movie, "Evil Roy Slade". The main character, played by John Astin, had gone to NY for the first time and had been invited to a party.

He was walking around checking things out when he saw the chamber music group. He watched for a minute, pulled his pistol, walked up to the cello player and said:

"Mister, what you're doing is obscene. Take that fiddle out from between your legs and put it up under your chin where it belongs"!
www.genejones.com

David Pennybaker · Post by **David Pennybaker** » 23 Oct 2001 12:48 pm

I remember that scene, but didn't remember the movie.

Even funnier is that the guy DID exactly what he was told.

Until then, I didn't know it was possible to play a cello under your chin like that.

------------------
The Unofficial Photographer of The Wilkinsons

Jason Odd · Post by **Jason Odd** » 23 Oct 2001 6:41 pm

At the risk of getting seriously off-topic, I just had to respond to Gene's post.

As a fan of Westerns, especially Spaghetti and strange ones from the late 1960s and early 1970s, I was suprised to find that this film was from the early 1970s.
I dug this up from the All Movie Guide;

Overlooked when it first aired February 18, 1972, the made-for-TV Evil Roy Slade has gained a loyal and protective cult following in the past 20 years. The film was the second pilot for a never-sold TV western spoof created by Garry Marshall and Jerry Belson, Sheriff Who?. Actually, it was the second and third pilot, since Evil Roy Slade has been cobbled together from two hour-long films. John Astin is terrific in the title role, playing an outlaw so repulsive that, when he was orphaned and left stranded in the desert as a baby, even the wolves didn't want him! As an adult, Evil Roy Slade can't resist "going the extra mile" in his nastiness: while robbing a bank, he stops to pilfer a fountain pen chained to one of the desks, and the next shot shows Slade riding off into the sunset, dragging the desk behind him. Attempting to reform for the sake of pretty schoolmarm Betsy Potter (Pamela Austin), Slade simply cannot curb his crooked tendencies, so it's up to Dick Shawn as singing Sheriff Bing Bell ("Will somebody please answer that door?") to bring the criminal to justice. Shawn previously appeared in the original 1967 Sheriff Who? pilot as the "fastest interior decorator in the West"; in both films, he's almost unbearably funny. The Marshall/Belson script is full of hilarious running gags and throwaway jokes. Our favorite bit concerns railroad magnate Mickey Rooney's legendary stubby index finger: "They still sing about it around campfires at night," claims Rooney—and indeed, they do. The supporting cast includes such never-fail laughgetters as Milton Berle, Henry Gibson, Dom DeLuise and Edie Adams; also, keep a lookout for John Ritter and Penny Marshall in unbilled bits. — — Hal Erickson

Gene Jones · Post by **Gene Jones** » 24 Oct 2001 4:31 am

Jason thanks for the ERS background,I didn't know the origin, but it's one of the few movies on television re-runs that I try to watch every time it repeats.

..........but back to topic.....one of my grand-daughters played cello in her school orchestra, and the other played "first chair" flute. If I can ever pin 'em down long enough to try it I've wondered what the combo of cello, steel and flute would do?www.genejones.com [This message was edited by Gene Jones on 24 October 2001 at 05:35 AM.]

Jim Cohen · Post by **Jim Cohen** » 24 Oct 2001 5:22 am

FWLIW, I played cello all thru Jr. High and High School. In college I "graduated" to steel. Never looked back.

Sage · Post by **Sage** » 24 Oct 2001 5:39 am

The only way I can play cello is to put it between my thumbs and blow. Oh- I guess you're not talking about cello-phane

.
Clarinet and cello are my two favorite sounding instruments outside of the steel, and would love to hear them all in combination.

David Pennybaker · Post by **David Pennybaker** » 24 Oct 2001 6:40 am

Clarinet and cello are my two favorite sounding instruments outside of the steel, and would love to hear them all in combination.

I've always thought the cello and oboe were the classical music equivalent of country's pedal steel and fiddle.

------------------
The Unofficial Photographer of The Wilkinsons