Lucy the Music Lover

S1;E8
~ November 19, 1962

Synopsis

Lucy
goes overboard to make the doctor she’s dating believe she’s as big a
classical music lover as he is. When she invites her date over, he
ends up making beautiful music with Viv. He’s even planning to play
violin in Viv’s benefit recital – until Lucy crushes his hand with
the piano lid.

Regular
Cast

Lucille
Ball (Lucy Carmichael), Vivian Vance (Vivian Bagley), Jimmy Garrett
(Jerry Carmichael), Ralph
Hart (Sherman Bagley), Candy Moore (Chris Carmichael)

Dick
Martin (Harry Connors) does not
appear in this episode.

Guest
Cast

Mary
Jane Croft
(Audrey Simmons). This is the first series appearance for Croft, who
played Betty Ramsey during season six of “I Love Lucy.” She also
played Cynthia Harcourt in “Lucy is Envious” (ILL S3;E23) and
Evelyn Bigsby in “Return Home from Europe” (ILL S5;E26). She
will play Audrey Simmons for eight episodes but when Lucy moves to
California, she will play Mary Jane Lewis (the actor’s married name)
until the series finale. Her husband
Elliott
Lewis
was
a producer of “The Lucy Show” from 1962 to 1964.
She also played a character named Mary Jane Lewis on “Here’s Lucy”
from 1969 to 1974. Her final acting credit was playing Midge Bowser
on “Lucy Calls the President” (1977). She died in 1999 at the
age of 83.

We
learn that Audrey’s husband Harvey sells medical supplies.

Frank
Aletter (Dr.
Sam Eastman) appeared on Broadway during the 1950s in such shows as
Wish
You Were Here, Bells Are Ringing,
and Mr.
Roberts,
the film version of which brought him to Hollywood where he was a
frequent guest star on television until his death in 2009.

We
learn that Dr. Eastman is an ear eyes nose and throat specialist.

Susan
Oakes (Grace,
the record store clerk) is best known as Anybodys, the only girl in
the Jets in the 1961 film West
Side Story.
This is one of her three TV credits before leaving show business in
1964.

Richard
Gittings (Emcee)
is credited with 27 episodes of “The Adventures of Ozzie and
Harriet” between 1957 and 1966, eleven of which also starred Mary
Jane Croft as Clara Randolph.

Bert
Stevens and
Caryl
Lincoln (Concert
Spectators) were a real-life husband and wife who made many
appearances as background players on the series. Lincoln was one of
Lucy’s friends from her Goldwyn Girl days. Stevens was the brother of
actress Barbara Stanwyck, whose given name was Ruby Stevens. He was
seen in the Tropicana audience for the Flapper Follies when “Ricky
Loses His Voice” (ILL S2;E9) but along with Lincoln, probably
appeared on other episodes as well.

We
learn Viv is the new chairman of the fundraising committee of her
Women’s Club. They are raising money for a children’s hospital. Lucy would prefer their charity concert would feature Frank Sinatra or Bennie
Goodman. Francis
Albert Sinatra
(1915-1998)
was an American singer, actor, and producer who was one of the most
popular and influential musical artists of the 20th century. He is
one of the best-selling
music artists of all time,
having sold more than 150 million records worldwide.
He inadvertently appeared on “I Love Lucy” when a clip from his
new film Guys
and Dolls was
inserted into the episode “Lucy and the Dummy” (ILL S5;E3).
Sinatra later sent Lucille Ball a letter expressing his concern over
the depiction of the mafia in “The Untouchables,” a Desilu
series. Benjamin
David Goodman
(1909-86)
was an American jazz
and
swing
musician,
clarinetist
and
bandleader.
He was known
as the “King of Swing.”

After smashing all of his records when he got married, Chris is once again a Bobby Darin fan. Darin wed actress Sandra Dee on December 1, 1960. Chris mentions
talking on the phone about this to her friend Cynthia, a character that has been mentioned, but won’t be seen until episode 23.

In
the original script both Lucy and Viv were in the scene in the record
shop. Viv was not included in the filmed scene.

Record
stores of the time offered sound proof booths where customers might
preview records before purchasing. This gives Lucille Ball an
opportunity to use her skill at pantomime.

In
the record shop, there is a chalkboard sign that lists the ‘Top Ten
Tunes,’ all of which are made-up, nonsensical titles:

Flairing
Blue
Da-A-Lone
Sy-Howie
Lo-Ho
Sippen-Sid
Cling-Cling
Adel-Stomp
Bop-De-Bop
Rain-Gee
Woolen-Shoes

Dr.
Eastman asks Lucy if she’s heard Reiner conducting Rubenstein in
Rachmaninoff’s
Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini. While this may sound like a made-up
tongue-twister,
it is a real classical musical piece for piano
and
symphony
orchestra written in 1934.
In 1956 it was recorded with conductor Fritz Reiner conducting the
Chicago Symphony Orchestra and pianist Arthur Rubinstein.

Lucy’s
first date with the doctor is going to be at Carnegie Hall, New York
City’s legendary concert venue.

Viv
worries that Sam will find out that Lucy’s idea of a classic is “You
Ain’t Nothin’ But a Hound Dog.” The blues song was written by
Jerry
Leiber and Mike Stoller and originally recorded
by Willie
Mae ‘Big Mama’ Thornton in
August 1952. Although it has
been covered more than 250 times, the best-known version is the July
1956 recording by Elvis
Presley,
which is ranked #19 on Rolling
Stone’s
list of the 500
Greatest Songs of All Time.

Lucy
compares her sleeping through classical concerts to the “Sleeping
Beauty Ballet.” The
ballet music was composed by Pyotr
Ilyich Tchaikovsky

in 1889.

Lucy
and Viv play a pre-rehearsed game of living room ‘Name That Tune’
for Dr. Sam’s benefit. The first selection Viv plays is Brahms,
First Piano Concerto, Second Movement, measures 15, 16 and 17. The
second selection is Beethoven, Appasionata Sonata, First Movement.

When
Sam takes over the keyboard, Lucy utters the iconic phrase “Play it
again, Sam” often incorrectly attributed to the 1942 movie Casablanca.
Curiously, the quote does not get a reaction from the studio
audience. Even the ‘sweetened’ laugh track does not respond!

To
impress Sam, Lucy displays busts of classical composers, with the
largest one of Ludwig von Beethoven. Lifting it onto a pedestal,
Viv remarks that it is “no
wonder he wrote such heavy music.”
She even dresses Jerry in a Beethoven sweatshirt. Lucy remarks his
favorite is Tchaikovsky – but he’s in the wash!

Callbacks!

Viv
plays piano, just as Ethel did on “I
Love Lucy.”
In “Lucy Buys a Sheep” (S1;E5), we learned that Sherman takes piano lessons after school. Like mother, like son!

Lucy has Jerry find her old violin in the attic, saying she used to play it in school. She
manages a squeaky rendition of “Twinkle Twinkle Little Star.”
Lucille Ball really learned the song on the violin for this episode.
Writer Madelyn Martin once said,

“No
matter what we asked her to do – ride a lawnmower, jump on a
trampoline, walk on stilts – she never said ‘No,’ just ‘Give
me a few days to learn it.’"

In “The Saxophone” (ILL S2;E22), Lucy Ricardo finds her old saxophone in the attic. Like Lucy Carmichael, she only knew one song: “Sweet Sue.” In some episodes that one song was “Glow Worm.” Lucille
Ball was also adept at the ukulele.

During
the classical concert, Lucy does her best to stay awake, giving
Lucille Ball a chance to repeat much of the comic business she
developed when she sleepy from too much Dramamine in “The
Passports” (ILL S5;E11) and when she was exhausted from her
commuter lifestyle in “Lucy Wants a Career”, a 1959 episode of
“The Lucy-Desi Comedy Hour.” In
a 1971 episode of “Here’s Lucy,” Lucy Carter has severe jet lag and has trouble staying
awake on an English chat show with David Frost.

At
the classical music concert, Lucy and Sam have box seats, sharing with
another couple. This was also the case when the Ricardos and Mertzes
went to see The
Most Happy Fella
in “Lucy’s Night in Town” (ILL S6;E22).

To
impress her music-savvy date, Lucy has Chris dance through the living
room dressed like Carmen, the heroine of the Bizet opera of the same name, banging a tambourine
and singing “The Habanera” with a rose in her teeth. Similarly,
Ethel
showed up as a Spanish dancer singing “The
Habanera”
to impress Hollywood talent scout Ben Benjamin in “Ricky’s Movie
Offer” (ILL S4;E5).

When
a jealous Lucy slams down the piano cover on Sam’s hand before the
charity concert, Lucy gets an idea: he will perform by fingering
the violin with his good hand while she does the bowing with her
right hand – her arm inserted into his jacket sleeve while hiding behind the curtain. The gag was first seen in “The
Handcuffs” (ILL S2;E4) but used again on “Here’s Lucy” when
Lucy Carter got Elizabeth Taylor’s expensive ring stuck on her finger just
before a public event. In all three instances, Lucy’s hand has a
life of its own!

Blooper
Alerts!

Going Blank! None
of the albums in the record store have anything printed on the back
of their sleeves.

Fact Check! Viv
makes small talk with Sam, asking him what he thinks about Fritz
Reiner conducting the Cleveland Symphony. The conductor of the
Cleveland Orchestra in 1962 was George Szell.