Eddie Fisher Died Long Ago

Eddie Fisher sang his own obituary:

Green years, where did you run to
Wonderful green years, where did you fly

Your April kiss made me feel Spring would always live on
But youth is a dreamer
And when I awoke
My Springtime was gone

Everything was gone.
Eddie Fisher faded out.
His music died out.
His style died out.
He never was able to make a comeback.

This guy was the biggest.

Nothing could go wrong. Every song he recorded was a HIT. Coca Cola gave him a super-duper, sensational $1 million contract. He had a 15 minute television show. That’s right; 15 minutes, that was considered big time. Such a nice face, such a nice smile, such a nice young man, such a nice Jewish boy.

They changed the way 45 rpms were packaged. It used to be that a 45 rpm record had a fancy round label; colorful, pretty: but encased in a plain brown paper with a round hole in the center. Then when Eddie Fisher arrived on the screen, the entire round 45 rpm was encased in a colorful paper square that advertised that one record. One side was the HIT tune; the other was a throw away tune, nothing special. You had a hit on one side. Why invest in the other side being a hit? You’re not going to make more money.

There used to be music stores. They sold records. HITS were close to the front of the store. They sold rapidly. Record stores sold only music. Songs you could sing. Songs with melodies. You could dance to the music. Sam Goody music store had all the records. There was one store, and you went to that store. There weren’t franchise, multi-location, big mall stores. You had a phonograph to play the record. You didn’t load it on your iPhone.

That died out too.
No more round records.
No more stereos.
No more music stores.

You have to go to a book store to buy a CD; there are no more records. And soon there will probably be no CD’s. New technology, new down loads, new way to hear music.

It wasn’t a big headline when Eddie Fisher died. Each one of the obituaries said his daughter is Carrie Fisher, who played Princess Leia in Star Wars. His daughter with Debbie Reynolds. The way the obituaries read you would think his daughter achieved more success than he did. The way I remember it he was higher up there when you think of celebrity status. The early 50′s, no one was bigger. Every record a HIT. One HIT after another.

Any Time
Tell Me Why
Heart
I’m Yours
Wish You Were Here
I’m Walking Behind You
Oh My PaPa

Count Your Blessings: When I’m worried and I can’t sleep, I count my blessings instead of sheep, and I fall asleep counting my blessings.

Turn Back the Hands of Time: …Yes, Eddie Fisher sang his obituary.

When Mario Lanza died it was a big headline. He was young. For days the newspapers carried the story. Mario Lanza; what a voice. He was good in the movies; everybody loved him.

Be my love, for no one else can end this yearning.
This need that you and you alone create.
Just fill my arms the way you’ve filled my dreams, the dreams that you inspire with every sweet desire.
Be my love, and with your kisses set me burning…

Bing Crosby – White Christmas; the biggest selling record. There were other singers; Tony Bennett, Perry Como, Frankie Laine, but there was nobody like Eddie Fisher.

In the early 50′s Sinatra was down and out. It wasn’t until he played Maggio in From Here to Eternity did he comeback. Sinatra had a personality you either loved him or you hated him: nothing in between. No ambivalence. Sinatra came back and grew: There was “Young at Heart”, there were more movies, they got him Nelson Riddle. Remember Nelson Riddle?

I’ve Got the World on a String

Fairy Tales Can Come True, It Can Happen to You

But nobody was bigger than Eddie Fisher.
Then he went for the women…

Lady of Spain I adore you
Right from the night I first saw you
My heart has been yearning for you
Lady of Spain I love you…

What was wrong with Debbie Reynolds? They were the perfect couple. She was cute, adorable, and wonderful. And he was a nice Jewish boy. All the nice Jewish boys were marrying shiksas. They got terrific publicity. She played Tammy in the movies. She recorded the song Tammy. Then she had the number one record. He didn’t like that.

Tragedy struck. Mike Todd, Elizabeth Taylor’s husband was killed in a plane crash. Eddie Fisher had been best man at their wedding; Debbie had been the bridesmaid. They were all best friends. Then it was Eddie Fisher and Elizabeth Taylor. Scandal. Headlines. What man could ever resist Elizabeth Taylor; the most beautiful woman.

And so Debbie divorced him and Eddie married Elizabeth Taylor. That was good for a while. Pictures. Headlines. Everywhere he appeared, she was in the audience. He sang his heart out. She looked beautiful. Happiness. Then his career started to slide. His songs did not climb the charts. He was fading. She was soaring up there; to the heights. Then she got the offer to play Cleopatra. Now that was type casting; the most beautiful woman playing the Queen of the Nile. At that time, the most expensive movie ever made.

And so she played opposite Richard Burton. Richard Burton was really nobody at that point of time; oh yes, he was an excellent actor, but commercially he wasn’t anybody special. He could do Shakespeare. He could do really difficult roles. But he was not a star. She catapulted him into a new realm; stardom.

Elizabeth Taylor got sick. She was rushed to the hospital. They performed a tracheotomy. They thought she was gone there for a while. She lived.

They gave her an Oscar for her performance in Butterfield 8 that year. With the scar on her throat, and dressed beautifully, and on the helping hand of her loving husband Eddie Fisher she clutched her Oscar in her other hand.

But he was a nursemaid by then. He carried her handbag. He had to take care of his wife in pain; comfort her. No longer was he the same man she married.

Richard Burton probably acted as Marc Anthony off the screen. The great Roman. Power. Strength. Not a nursemaid carrying a handbag. New Scandal. New Headlines. It went on and on. This was the headline day after day. There was nothing else to garner the headlines. No political stories. No weather related stories. No new breakthrough in technology/medicine stories. No new personalities. Nothing new but Richard and Liz.

Eddie Fisher faded away. No new songs to sing. No singing career. No television shows. No music. He just faded away. There were more women, more marriages, but by then no one was really interested. Fade out.

So Eddie Fisher died long ago.

Then along came Elvis.

You ain’t nothin but a hound dog
Cryin all the time
Well you ain’t never caught a rabbit
and you ain’t no friend of mine.

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