John F. Kennedy and his listening habits

I seem to remember reading somewhere that JFK played Brubeck's Time Out a lot.

 

And he did listen to Vaughn Meader's First Family more than once. He thought it was hilarious.

 

Me too.

 

I bet he listened to whatever Mary Pinchot Meyer listened to.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mary_Pinchot_Meyer

 

"Camelot" was a myth. You can watch the myth making take hold just days after his assassination. People like myths, and with the principal deceased, it is easy to form and hold one. But the whole idea that there was this brief, bright, shiny moment in the White House is...just myth making.

 

That'd be my guess, kind of like how George Bush was always telling anyone who would listen that he loved country music. It's not impossible that he really did - I do, and I'm also from New England and Ivy-educated - but I always found that hard to believe.

 

Producer Phil Ramone said that he installed sound equipment in the White House, and that JFK took quite a personal interest.

"Seeking to update the East Room house sound system, the president asked Ramone, who had recently made an impression at a Kennedy event in New York City, to address the room's acoustic deficiencies..."

More here:
http://articles.latimes.com/2013/mar/31/entertainment/la-et-ms-phil-ramone-appreciation-20130401

 

Hampton Hawes?

http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2013/08/16/the-jazz-pianist-that-john-f-kennedy-saved.html

 

This might be circumstantial evidence of what he liked--Bennett & Brubeck, The White House Sessions, Live 1962-- a CD I just picked up a few days ago.

According to Allmusic.com: Since both were performing their own sets at the White House Seminar American Jazz Concert on the Sylvan Theater grounds on August 28, 1962, Tony Bennett and Dave Brubeck decided to perform an impromptu collaborative set together that day, and although one song from it was eventually released, a version of "That Old Black Magic," the rest of the hour-or-so-long tape ended up lost in the vast Sony catalog vault, filed, as it turned out, with several classical tapes, until it surfaced again shortly after Brubeck's death in 2012.

This doesn't mean JFK actually listened to these guys during his down time, but maybe. Another poster said he liked Brubeck, so the invitation to the White House probably reflects his tastes.

 

Didn't Louis Prima and Keely Smith perform at Kennedy's Inaugural celebration? Perhaps a bit of a stretch to think that he requested them as the entertainment, but I believe they did perform. Also Pablo Casals performed at the White House in the Kennedy era though that was most likely a Jackie thing.........
---------- Chris

 

everything that was on his ipod

 

Love that 800B

 

Here it is -- JFKs Mix Tape.
http://www.halfhearteddude.com/2013/11/jfkennedy-mix-tape/

EDIT: He also favored Greensleeves & The Boys of Wexford

 

Why a stretch? They were huge, and the definitive Vegas act.

 

Oh, well only because I don't know the answer definitively, but you are correct - they were riding the wave of popularity at the time. I think there is footage of the event as well. Fun stuff!
---------- Chris

 

I think Keely loses her balance at one point and Louis yells, "careful!"

 

He had time for music?

 

John F. Kennedy is supposed to have been a huge Dexter Gordon fan too. He had the first Jazz performance in the White House.

 

Another Garland/Kennedy photo:

 

Paul Winter performed a command performance for the Kennedys (a recording of which was released on the Count Me In compilation). Cellist Pablo Casals also performed for JFK at the White House.

Here's an article you might be able to use for your project from the Journal of the White House Historical Association, describing these performances and the Kennedys' relationship to the arts: http://issuu.com/whhapubl/docs/issue_14_full/48

 

The boycott was threatened in the Deep South due to the burgeoning Civil Rights movement. Bizarre.

 

More:

 

I think one of his comments was that Vaughan sounded more like Bobby.

 

Meader’s spoof of the Kennedy family made him rich and popular. There were write-ups in Time, Life, and Newsweek, appearances on The Ed Sullivan Show, and bookings in Las Vegas and in clubs around the country. The president himself commented on Meader’s impersonation. Asked at a press conference whether he was annoyed by the comedy album, JFK responded to laughter: “Actually, I listened to Mr. Meader’s record but I thought it sounded more like Teddy than it did me — so he’s annoyed.