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David Carradine Dead, Possible Suicide: Flashback to Crazy March Appearance

Roger Friedman
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carradine david 300x214 David Carradine Dead, Possible Suicide: Flashback to Crazy March Appearance“Kung Fu” and “Bound for Glory” actor David Carradine is dead, possibly a suicide in a Bangkok hotel room.

You never know what’s going in someone’s mind, but if it was career trouble, then Carradine’s death is puzzling. According to imdb.com, he was working as hard as any actor in Hollywood.

Strangely enough, there may be some precedent for Carradine’s death. In March, he made a very odd public appearance at the Aero Theater in Hollywood for a presentation of “Bound.” Hollywood Elsewhere, Jeffrey Wells’s blog, picked up two Mp3s of audio from the event. You can listen to them here.

There are also reports from the event on Carradine’s page’s message board on imdb.com indicating that Carradine was drunk or high at the event. He attacked panelist Haskell Wexler, the “Bound” cinematographer, defended cocaine use on sets, and attempted to serenade the audience with Woody Guthrie songs on a guitar.

One observer wrote on Carradine’s message board:

“Carradine couldn’t get through a single verse before forgetting the words. Very embarrassing! It was quite sad really, but for the audience it was a true celebrity trainwreck, it was impossible to take your eyes off the stage as you wondered what in the hell was going to happen next.”

However Carradine died, it’s a tragedy. He was a great actor, a true credit to a dynastic Hollywood family. Just rent Quentin Tarantino’s “Kill Bill” parts one and two, to see his legacy. And of course “Bound for Glory.”

Chris Botti Buys A House, and Everything In It

Roger Friedman
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Trumpet player Chris Botti has finally bought a house. For the last few years, the blond horn man has lived only out of suitcases, staying in hotels and crashing on friends’ couches.

No more.

He told me yesterday, right before a New Hampshire gig, that he caved in a few months ago and took advantage of lower interest rates.

His new home is in the Hollywood Hills, of course. And it came completely furnished. “I walked in and I’ll take it, with everything. From the ash trays to the soap dishes.”

Apparently the house had just been “staged” for a magazine photo shoot. The new buyer liked what he saw. “It was done very tastefully.” Friends Sting and Trudie Styler came over to see the place–probably thrilled to get Botti out of their guest room.

“They couldn’t believe how nice it was,” he told me.

Now Botti swings through New York tomorrow for a sold-out show at the Beacon Theater, and then on to more shows, and more shows, and more. He’ll get a chance to live in the house in August, during a rare break from touring.

“It might be nice to have a break,” he joked. Reminds me of the Gang of Four song: “At home he feels like a tourist.”

Elvis Costello Plays Secret Show in Tiny NY Pub

Roger Friedman
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About 200 lucky fans got a great wish granted last night: they saw Elvis Costello play an acoustic set of songs from his newest album in a downtown New York Irish pub.

Costello’s “secret show” was an excellent way to promote his new collection, produced with T Bone Burnett, called “Secret, Profane, & Sugarcane.”

The show — at Jim Brady’s on Maiden Lane, near Wall Street — came after Costello’s performance on NBC’s “Today” show, where he played what’s turning into a smart little hit, “Sulphur to Sugarcane.”

During the set, fans learned that Costello — whose eclectic career runs from power pop to punk to opera, Burt Bacharach and more — was influenced this time by stories about Hans Christian Andersen, Jenny Lind, and P.T. Barnum.

Lind, the Danish opera star of the 1800s, Costello declared was “the Celine Dion of her day.”

Andersen, he noted, who died in 1875, was “extremely ugly.”

Costello also told deejays from New York rock station WRXP FM, 101.9, which sponsored the event, that the one collaborator he was sorry he’d missed working with was Shakespeare. “He had some good lyrics.”

In that regard, Costello — newly svelte and ready to hit the road for a summer tour — revealed that he and country legend Loretta Lynn were working on a song tentatively titled, “Thank God for Jesus.”

“It’s incredible that no one thought of that song before,” he said.

Costello, thirty-plus years into an astonishing career, is clearly not aiming his music toward the Britney Spears set. As usual, his songs are urbane and catchy. He’s still challenging his audience even as he’s sweeping them off their feet with sweet pop melodies, justaposed with complex lyrics.

My favorite, from “My All Time Doll”: “In the far flung cry of a closing saloon/On the blank back side of that poisonous moon/I tried not to think about you/I thought I was immune.”

Take that, Spears fans.

Edie Falco’s TV Nursing Skills Called for at Premiere Party

Roger Friedman
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She only plays a nurse on Showtime’s new series, “Nurse Jackie.” But last night at the show’s premiere party, Edie Falco was just about the first person summoned when a guest fainted.

It wasn’t clear what she was being asked to do, but Falco rushed over.

The guest was the eldlerly mother of a theatrical agent. At first, the word went out in Nicola’s restaurant at the Parker Meridien hotel that someone had had a heart attack.

That didn’t stop the crowd, which had just seen two episodes of the wonderful new Falco series, from chowing down and drinking. It was late, after all.

Ironically, the party room had been totally redecorated to resemble an ER. There were actual hospital beds, medical cabinets stocked with bandages and the like, and heavy plastic curtain dividers.

Someone had even set up a machine for guests to try oxygen at a bar in flavors like lemonade and tangerine.

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All-Star Music Night Has Biggest Buzz of the Year

Roger Friedman
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The biggest night in the music year is not the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame dinner. It’s the Songwriters Hall of Fame dinner in New York on June 18th. Phil Ramone is the musical producer; Hal David and Linda Moran put on a show of shows year in and year out.

This is the 40th anniversary, which means a blowout at the Marriott Marquis. Bon Jovi, Crosby Stills and Nash, the Rascals, Holland-Dozier-Holland, Tom Jones, Andy Williams, the composers of ‘Hair,’ and ‘Godspell,’ are all getting awards, along with pop song crafters Roger Cook and Roger Greenaway are getting awards.

Ramone’s showcase of these stars should be monumental. He’s already got James Taylor, Rob Thomas, Berry Gordy, Clint Black, Chris Daughtry, John Ondrasik (of Five for Fighting), and Paul Williams to either present or perform. Jason Mraz is getting the award for new generation songwriter. I’m excited because legendary Marilyn McCoo and Billy Davis, Jr. of the Fifth Dimension are coming to salute the ‘Hair’ writers. They had the #1 record of 1969 with ‘Aquarius/Let the Sun Shine In’ from that show.

The SHOF dinner and show is a hot ticket. Call Buckley Hall Events, (212) 573-6933 for info. And here’s something for FREE: a master class at Merkin Hall with Lamont Dozier, interviewed by Nelson George, on June 16th for members of the SHOF. Don’t worry: I will be there, and report back every word that’s said by the co-writer of all the Four Tops and Supremes hits.

Jennifer Hudson Not Happy With Her Guests

Roger Friedman
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Jennifer Hudson may or may not be pregnant. But listen: she’s not ready to say either way, for her own reasons. And still, friends’so called’are betraying her confidence.

Yesterday the Chicago papers claimed they’d uncovered a baby shower. They talked to a guest, Felicia Fields, who yakked away until her jaw hurt. She told the papers Hudson was seven months along, that she wanted to keep it quiet, and so on.

Other friends of Hudson say the Oscar winner and hit singer is very upset with Fields. Suffice to say, Fields will not be on the list of wedding guests when and if Hudson marries her fianc’e.

More importantly: if Jennifer is seven months pregnant, that means she conceived right after the terrible tragedies in her family at the end of October 2008. If’if, meaning if’this is the case, she has her own reasons for keeping the whole thing private until she’s ready.

Whatever’s happening’everyone wishes Jennifer Hudson the best at this point. She deserves peace and privacy. Not every human event in a celebrity’s life is ready for primetime exposure.

Whitney, Mariah: Grammy Deadline Looms

Roger Friedman
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houston whitney 263x300 Whitney, Mariah: Grammy Deadline LoomsWhitney Houston‘s new CD, her big comeback effort, is said to ‘near ready,’ ‘almost done,’ or ‘just about finished.’

I’d heard last week that Clive Davis was putting a September release date on it. But really, here’s the thing: the Grammy deadline is August 31st. That’s a month earlier than usual because the Grammy Awards are a week earlier this year, on January 31, 2010.

Yes, that’s right: a week, a month. It makes no sense, but that’s what they did at Grammy HQ. At the end of January 2010 they’re going to give out awards for music released between October 1, 2008 and August 31, 2009.

And Whitney’s comeback may not make that deadline. Of course, it’s possible a single could be released by then. But that’s always a tricky story. J Records tried that with Alicia Keys a couple of years ago, with ‘No One’ making the cut. A year later, her very good album, ‘As I Am,’ seemed old.

At the same time, Mariah Carey is buzzing away in the studio for her new CD, called ‘Memoirs of an Imperfect Angel.’ She’s been working with The-Dream and other producers putting together another collection of catchy pop songs. But will she be ready by August 31st? It doesn’t seem possible. But don’t count her out. Mariah tells me, ‘I feel it’s a special album and I want it to have a shot.’

Maybe the Grammys will have so few choices that they’ll have to acknowledge artists who usually get shunted aside. Elvis Costello‘s new CD, ‘Secret, Profane and Sugarcane,’ would be a good choice. The theme of the next Grammys could be albums that didn’t chart, weren’t promoted, or played on the radio.

So far 2009 hasn’t been that great. The big releases have come from U2, Bob Dylan, Kelly Clarkson, Eminem, and Kanye West. None of it is really superior quality stuff, though, compared even to those artists’ previous work. New albums by Rob Thomas and Black Eyed Peas should help. Of course, Adam Lambert might make the deadline with his release. We have that to look forward to.

But the idea of a Grammy show overwhelmed by Lady Gaga is enough to make you want to get out Daniel Faraday’s notebook from ‘Lost’ and travel back fast to 1972.

P.S. As I told you during the early days of this new column, Mariah is also working with Jermaine Dupri on a theme song for Lee Daniels‘ great movie, ‘Precious.’ It’s set to be called ‘100 Percent.’ At least Mariah will make the Oscar deadline!

Jay-Z Tug of War Ends (With Diddy’s Help?)

Roger Friedman
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As I told you last week, there’s been a tug of war between Sony Music and Warner Music Group over Jay-Z.

But the tug of war is over, sources tell me: Jay-Z’s Roc Nation label, with new up-and-coming artists, will go to Sony. His new album, ‘The Blueprint 3,’ will be released by Warner.

Jay-Z bought back ‘Blueprint 3’ from Universal Music for $5 million. So WMG has had to advance him at least that much for the CD. And it’s a one-off deal, just for this recording. Given WMG’s track record, it’s questionable they’ll be able to break even, let alone turn a profit.

For Sony, it’s a win. Roc Nation could supply them with desperately needed new artists. With Jay-Z’s imprimatur, the new artists should have an easier time being heard, and selling music.

Why did Jay-Z go to WMG at all? My guess is that Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs had something to do with it. The two hip-hop stars attended a Lakers game together on May 5’a rarity. But WMG spent $30 million on Combs’ Bad Boy label. They may have pressed him into the role of backchannel diplomat. And it worked.

Jane Fonda Will Put Mug Shot on Mugs

Roger Friedman
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jane fonda mug shot 263x300 Jane Fonda Will Put Mug Shot on MugsJane Fonda has always been brilliant at marketing, especially when the proceeds go to one of her causes.

In the late ’70s and early ’80s, Jane created the workout videos and associated stuff to fund what she called the Campaign for Economic Democracy.

Over the last few years, Fonda has been instrumental in the Georgia Campaign for Adolescent Pregnancy Prevention, or G-CAPP. Her involvement is a result of her relocation to Atlanta during her marriage to Ted Turner. But Fonda has always been a political activist, like it or not, on the cutting edge of humanitarian causes.

Now comes word that the two-time Oscar winner has authorized use of her famous mug shot from a false arrest in Cleveland during the 1970s. It’s going to be put on T-shirts, mugs (it’s a mug shot, after all) and other merchandise to raise money for G-CAPP.

The black-and-white picture shows Fonda, fresh from shooting ‘Klute’ with her trademark haircut of the time, fist raised in the air. At the time Fonda was wisely protesting U.S. involvement in Vietnam. Now that image will morph into a defiant plea to teens to keep from making lasting mistakes.

Thanks to the picture, we know that it was taken on November 3, 1970. Fonda was 32 years old and weighed 126 pounds. She was, and is, five foot eight.

She writes in her blog about the arrest, which was for drug smuggling’hilarious, but that was the paranoia of the time, and the persistence with which the police and FBI pursued anti-war activists.

‘Headlines across the country had the story of me being jailed on suspicion of drug smuggling. I was released on bond and months later, after every pill had been tested in a lab (with taxpayers’ money!). The charges were dismissed and there were a few paragraphs hidden in the back of papers that they were vitamins, not drugs.’

The result of all the publicity was that the number of students who showed up for her appearances after that grew to as many as 10,000 at a time.

Fonda, by the way, will be at the Tony Awards this Sunday in New York (broadcast on CBS). She’s nominated for best actress in a play, ’33 Variations,’ by Moises Kaufman. She’s up against two actresses from ‘God’s Carnage’ and the two from ‘Mary Stuart.’ They all deserve to win, but my guess is that the two pairs cancel each other out, and Fonda takes the statue. She deserves it.

Jacko: L.A. Times Gets It Wrong

Roger Friedman
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Today’s article in The Los Angeles Times about Michael Jackson contained some of the worst reporting I’ve ever seen.

It was if the reporters just refused to do any research. Instead, they muddled a bunch of disparate facts. Let’s not let this story stand as the record for anything, OK?

I don’t know how they could have screwed up so much about Colony Capital LLC’s involvement with Jackson.

For one thing, Colony Capital and its chief, Thomas Barrack, only have the note on Neverland. They never had anything to do with Jackson’s main loans against his 50% ownership in Sony/ATV Music Publishing. Those loans were sold by Fortress Investment Group to a consortium of Barclays, HSBC, and Sony Music in 2007.

I don’t know if Barrack ever called his ‘old friend’Philip Anschutz about Jackson. But the truth is: AEG Live’s Randy Phillips tried to get Jackson to agree to perform at the O2 Arena in London as early as December 2007, when I reported it. That was at least a year before Colony and Barrack had anything to do with Jackson.

Barrack makes it sound like Jackson was living in a hovel in Las Vegas when he arrived and ‘saved’ him. Jackson was living in an expensive rental home at the time. He could have moved at any time back to Neverland, or to his parents’ home in Encino, if he didn’t like it.

The L.A. Times reporters obviously have done no research about Jackson’s newly former manager, Tohme Tohme. He is not a doctor. There is no record anywhere of him having been one. He told me directly that he is not ‘currently’ a licensed physician.

The L.A. Times reporters deftly stepped around Tohme’s assertion, on his website, that he’s an ambassador at large to the country of Senegal. The Senegalese U.S. embassy said to this reporter that they have no knowledge of him whatsoever.

There’s more about Tohme: Jackson blames him for the Julien’s Auctions debacle of this past winter, in which all of the Neverland possessions including its front gates were going to be sold to strangers. In the end, Jackson and Tohme were going to lose a court case with Julien’s.

Tohme came in with enough money at the 11th hour to stop the auction. But where he got the money remains a mystery, and who now has the key to the storage spaces is also up in the air.

Colony Capital’s interest in Jackson remains solely about Neverland, and the money they’ve paid to finance it. They hold the note. That’s it. They have simply nothing to do with Jackson’s concerts in London. In 2008, when Fortress called the note on Neverland, it was almost sold at auction. Colony Capital stepped in at that time. They advanced Jackson several million dollars at the time as part of the refinancing.

The L.A. Times reporters seem to think that John Branca helped Michael to buy a 50% stake in the Beatles catalog. In fact: Branca and Jackson bought ATV Music, which contained the Beatles catalog. They merged it with Sony’s music publishing division a few years later because Jackson needed cash. The new deal gave him $90 million and a half-ownership in the new entity, called Sony ATV Music Publishing. Jackson now has loans nearing $400 million secured by his position in that company.

What the L.A. Times doesn’t seem to get: Jackson currently has no official manager or entertainment lawyer. Tohme has been cut off from access to the pop star. Also apparently out is Peter Lopez, the lawyer who did deals for Jackson for the last year. Arfaq Hussain, who the article notes was jailed for four months, is simply assisting the production in London. Jackson, as of now, still has no home rented for his stay. Nothing has met with his approval.

The L.A. Times took a turn at trying to sort out a lot of material that I’ve reported on extensively. What they didn’t grasp is that the yawning gap between Jackson and solvency grows every day, that the only thing that keeps him afloat is that 50% ownership in Sony ATV, and that no matter what he makes from the O2 shows, whether he does one, two, 50, or 100, he is capable of spending as fast as it comes in.

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