| DRINKERS
AND DRUNKS
To The Best of Our Knowledge
from Wisconsin Public Radio
Belly up to the bar as To the Best of Our Knowledge
spends an hour with drinkers and drunks. Meet the man who invented
the Cosmopolitan. He says it's a really simple drink. All you need
is fresh lime juice.
SEGMENT 1:
Toby Cecchini is part owner and bartender
at Passerby, a bar in New York's far West Chelsea neighborhood.
He's also the author of "Cosmopolitan: A Bartender's Life."
Cecchini tells Anne Strainchamps about his bar and its clientele
and what people are looking for when they come to a bar. He also
says you really can taste the difference between a martini that's
been shaken and one that's been stirred and reveals the secret
of a great cosmopolitan is fresh lime juice. Also, the members
of "Lilies of the Alley" perform Celtic music
in our studio, and two of them - Sheila Shigley and Alan Ng
- talk with Jim Fleming about combining the pleasures of drinking
alcohol, socializing with friends and making music together.
SEGMENT 2:
James Frey is the author of "A Million
Little Pieces," a harrowing memoir of his time at an alcohol
and drug treatment facility. Frey tells Anne Strainchamps why
he can't believe in twelve step programs like Alcoholics Anonymous,
ans why he thinks addiction is a choice not a disease.
SEGMENT 3:
Michael Keith recalls his nomadic life with
his divorced, alcoholic father. He never had enough to eat, and
got into trouble, but decided who he didn't want to be. Keith's
memoir is called "The Next Better Place." Also, Will
Friedwald, author of "Stardust Melodies," tells
Steve Paulson about Billy Strayhorn's Song "Lush Life."
And we hear several recordings of the tune.
Cassette copies are available
at 1-800-747-7444. Ask for program number 03-12-21-A.
................................................................
Books:
- Toby Cecchini, Cosmopolitan:
A Bartender's Life (Broadway)
- James Frey, A Million Little Pieces
(Doubleday)
- Will Friedwald, Stardust Melodies
(Pantheon)
- Michael Keith, The Next Better Place:
a father and son on the road (Algonquin)
Music:
- Button after Cecchini: Alan
Ng, fiddler “The Battle of Aughrim/Bonaparte Crossing the
Rhine” Recorded by Marv Nonn at WPR 10 December 2003
- Button/Option after “Lilies”:
liliesofthealley.com Lilies of the Alley “Eel in the
Sink/Sean Sa Cheo” and “The Parting Glass” and
“Cold, Frost Morning” Recorded by Marv Nonn at WPR 10
December 2003
- Button/Option after Frey: Dakota Dave Hull “Whiskey
before Breakfast” from Hull’s Victory Flying Fish LP
FF294
- Friedwald Music: Linda Ronstadt “Lush Life”
from Lush Life Asylum 9 60387-2; John Coltrane & Johnny Hartman
“Lush Life” from The Gentle Side of John Coltrane, John
Coltrane on Impulse GRD 107 (Same recording also available on
other anthologies); Joe Henderson “Lush Life” from Lush
Life: The Music of Billy Strayhorn, Verve 314 511 779 2.
Distribution dates:
................................................................
Questions and comments can
be addressed to: flemingj@wpr.org
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