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November 22, 2013

20,000 Vinyl LPs 28: John Fitzgerald Kennedy ~ That Was the Week That Was

That Was the Week That Was
a tribute to

John Fitzgerald Kennedy

Any one who was more than 5 years old on this date fifty years ago, November 22, 1963, knows exactly where they were and what they were doing. I vividly remember where I was and the circumstances. I had an alarm-clock radio that would wake me up with gentle music in the mornings to go to work. It came on that morning not with music, as usual, but with a news bulletin announcing the shooting of President John Fitzgerald Kennedy, in Dallas, Texas. I remember the shock and horror of the news and the surreal feeling I was still sleeping and I was having a nightmare I couldn't wake up from. I just couldn't believe it was true. But the horrible truth was, I was not sleeping and the nightmare was real. The bizarre thing is, almost five years later, on June 7, 1968, that same alarm-clock radio woke me up to the news of the assassination of Robert Francis Kennedy the night before. It was a hideous déjà vu I never wanted repeated so I threw the alarm-clock radio away and used a regular alarm clock from then on.

Kennedy was a hero to me as he was to many of us in those times. The date is marked in American history, and for the world, as one of the saddest days in modern times. The shock of the event can still be felt after 50 years.

That Was the Week That Was

BBC tribute to
John Fitzgerald Kennedy

This album is a recording of a broadcast of the BBC weekly political satire program, That Was the Week That Was; this night it was not a humorous or satirical show but a tribute to the life of John Fitzgerald Kennedy with readings and musings by various famous people (tracklist below). It was broadcast the day after the assassination, November 23, 1963. The usual humorous bantering was absent from it. It was a shortened 20-minute program with no satire, reflecting on the loss, including a contribution from Dame Sybil Thorndike and the tribute song In the Summer of His Years sung by Millicent Martin with music by David Lee and lyrics by Herbert Kretzmer. This edition was screened on NBC in the US the following day, and the soundtrack was released by Decca Records ‎– DL 9116. There must have been millions of copies of the album sold.

Mahalia Jackson sings a moving a-capella version of In the Summer of His Years with drums accompanying her vocal (link below).

A studio recording of In the Summer of His Years, by Millicent Martin, was issued in the US by ABC-Paramount, other versions were recorded and released by Toni Arden (a 7" 45 rpm single on Decca), Bobby Rydell, Connie Francis (MGM), Mahalia Jackson (Columbia), Kate Smith (RCA Victor), Sarah Vaughan (Vernon), Hettie Palance and The Chad Mitchell Trio (Mercury); the Francis recording became a Top 40 hit on the Cash Box pop singles chart in January 1964 (links to music on YouTube below).

photos by Lewis Morley Studios

    The BBC Telecast Saturday November 23, 1963
    In Order Of Appearance
    David Frost
    Roy Kinnear
    David Kernan
    Al Mancini
    Kenneth Cope
    William (Willie) Rushton
    Lance Percicent
     David Frost
Millicent Martin – In The Summer Of His Years
    David Frost
    Robert Lang
Dame Sybil Thorndike* – To Jackie
    Bernard Levin
    David Frost