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I guess most of you have seen in the news over this past weekend where longtime afternoon television host, Mike Douglas, passed away. He died on his 81st birthday.
They have shown clips over the past few days of a three-year old Tiger Woods hitting a golf ball on Mike's show, and of newlywed Tiny Tim showing off his baby daughter from the same venue. You may have read where Mike hosted over 30,000 guests in the 21-years his show was syndicated across America from 1961 to 1982.
But nowhere did you read, nor will you, who the first country music artist was to appear on the Mike Douglas Show. But it happened to be yours truly.
His show was only seen on a handful of stations when I was invited in for my initial guest appearance in what must have been 1963. The show was taped in Cleveland in those days, prior to Mike's career-expanding move to Philadelphia. I didn't even have a full band of my own back then, but walked into his studio with the two musicians I did employ, steel guitar great, Weldon Myrick, and my lead guitar player, Jimmy Lance.
At that time, Mike, who was a big-band, pop-styled singer himself, had a small three or four piece jazz-style combo that provided music for his show. When Weldon, Jimmy, and I walked into the studio to set up our country music instruments and rehearse for our segment, one of the staff musicians looked down from the bandstand and said disparagingly in a voice loud enough for us all to hear, "Well, THIS will set our show back ten years!"
Fortunately, it didn't. Mike was extremely gracious to us, and went on to invite us back on numerous occasions. There is a picture in my autobiography taken the day I visited his show with Carol Channing. Once I was his guest along with football icon, Don Meredith, who introduced Mike that afternoon to a "hot new singer from Texas" named Willie Nelson. Jimmy Dean recalls inviting Mel Tillis to the Mike Douglas show when the sausage king was Mike's co-host. Nobody on Mike's staff knew who Mel Tillis was until about two days prior to his arrival. "We can't have someone on the show who has a speech impediment," they gasped in horror. Jimmy simply told them to relax and let Mel do his thing which they did. Mel, of course, fractured the audience, leading to his and Jimmy's and countless other country music stars' being asked back time and time again.
I recall Mike Douglas coming to Nashville on several occasions, and my manager and I introduced him to down-home southern cooking at a restaurant several miles outside the city limits called the Loveless Café. He and his wife, Gen, fell in love with the southern fried chicken, country ham, and homemade biscuits and preserves. Every time he would return to Music City, even if I weren't there to drive him, he'd have to visit Loveless. The restaurant manager told me one time that Mike Douglas was the only person who ever pulled up in front of this small, non-descript country café in a black stretch limousine with a chauffeur!
The Mike Douglas Show was a kind and gentle show, because its host was a kind and gentle man. It was a far cry from the bug-swallowing reality shows and the screaming-fit Jerry Springer shows of today. But then, in those days, I guess we lived in a kinder, gentler time.
I don't know about you, but I miss that.
