Posted on 04/30/2007 7:00:27 PM PDT by iowamark
PORTSMOUTH - For many Americans, the night wasn’t complete without a visit from Johnny, Ed, Doc and Tommy, aka “Mr. Excitement.”
Tommy Newsom, a Portsmouth native who gained fame as a musical sidekick to Johnny Carson for nearly 30 years, died Saturday of cancer. He was 78.
He died in his Portsmouth home, said his nephew and fellow musician Jim Newsom.
“I think he will be remembered as a gifted musician, a humble man and a funny guy,” Jim Newsom said, noting that the two had played together in March at a benefit concert. “What you saw on TV was the real guy - the same humor, the same low-key style. I think he’ll be remembered as 'Mr. Excitement.’ ”
That was the ironic nickname Carson bestowed on Newsom to poke fun at his deadpan personality and drab brown and blue suits - a sharp contrast to the flashy style of band leader Doc Severinsen.
Newsom later described his job as being Carson’s “javelin catcher.” According to Jim Newsom, his uncle, whose cancer had been in remission, enjoyed that back-and-forth.
“That meant he still had a job,” Jim Newsom said.
Some of the barbs Carson lobbed Newsom’s way included “he’s so dull, he wants to come back as a plant so somebody will talk to him,” and “he’s like oatmeal. You know it won’t hurt you, but you don’t look forward to it.”
Despite 30 years in show business, the musician was never known as a Hollywood kind of guy.
His Emmy and two Grammys were displayed next to his diploma from Cradock High School.
He played with great musicians for decades, but in a 2001 Virginian-Pilot interview, said the best horn player he’d ever heard was Lucien Montagna. Montagna was a college classmate who became a Norfolk shoe shop owner.
Newsom practiced every day. In his retirement, he created a sunny music room in his house, the sax notes spooling out over tranquil Stern’s Creek.
“I hate scales,” he said in a Virginian-Pilot interview in 2001.
Newsom played regular dates in an ever-changing combo with local musical stalwart Pat Curtis, partly, he said, to avoid having to practice.
“I’m a musician,” he said. “It’s what I do. It’s why I live.”
As a teen, Newsom performed in his high school band and played sax in local big bands.
His professional career began in New York City. He played sax with the Vincent Lopez Orchestra, toured the world with Benny Goodman and performed in the television orchestra for “The Merv Griffin Show.”
That led to his gig at “The Tonight Show” in 1962, shortly before Carson took over.
In a 2001 Virginian-Pilot story, Newsom remembered a nervous Carson trying out for the show.
Newsom’s verdict? This guy’s not gonna make it.
“Don’t ask me for stock tips,” Newsom quipped.
Newsom rose from band member to assistant music director and remained on the show until Carson’s final broadcast in 1992.
Throughout his career, he released several jazz albums and wrote music for stars from Rosemary Clooney to John Denver. An all-female big band issued a Tommy Newsom tribute CD a few years ago.
Newsom regularly came home to Portsmouth, returning mostly in the last 15 years for funerals. “Sad occasions,” he said, “but great reunions.”
He and his wife, Patricia, relocated permanently in 1994 after the Northridge Earthquake shook their home in the Los Angeles suburb of Tarzana. They sought solid ground, and settled in Sterling Point, just a few miles from his old neighborhood.
Grace Armistead went to high school with Newsom and rekindled their friendship after he returned.
“He was never awestruck by his position,” she said in an e-mail. “His friends recognized his position probably more than he did.”
In 1980, Portsmouth honored him with “Tommy Newsom Day,” and he received a medallion on Norfolk’s Legends of Music Walk of Fame on Granby Street in 2002.
After returning to Hampton Roads, Newsom played regularly here and around the country, especially at benefits, worked with younger players and hung out with a group of friends and musicians dubbed “The Lunch Bunch.”
“He was always there for others,” said Charley Garrison, a Lunch Bunch member whose father played with Newsom. “He always had that great smile. Even though he was famous, he was a regular person.”
Rest In Peace, gentle soul.
I grew up hearing the “Tonight Show Theme” while pretending to be asleep. I loved that music. So much better than that lame theme song that Leno has. Sad that musical style has been put in the back of the cupboard. I hope it is revived.
It’s not just the music that’s superior to Leno’s.There’s *nothing* on Leno’s *or* Letterman’s show that can hold a candle to Carson’s show.
I used to love it when Tommy would sub for Doc and Johnny would rag on him in the monologue. Tommy would also sometimes appear in the skits. A good sport, he.
One who truly will be missed. RIP, Mr Excitement!
Thank you. The truest thing I’ve read in quite awhile.
Man, I miss the Tonight Show. Used to love watching it and Lettermen afterword when he was NBC.
I miss the old Tonight Show. Recently I watched the Johnny Carson handpicked DVD set of the best highlights from the Tonight Show. It made me sad. Oh, the clips were funny. Some were downright hilarious. But it reminded me of that old saying, “You can never go home.”
So many of the stars shown in the highlights are, of course, now dead. The scenes shown also depict a world long since dead. The world is so very different than it was just 15 years ago when the show ended.
I thought back to a conversation with my father when I was a teenager. He tried to explain to me what the afternoon matinees were like in the ‘30’s and ‘40’s. For a nickel or dime he could watch the greatest stars of the day and all of them could not only act but could sing, dance and do comedy as well. His gaze became fixed and distant. He then shook his head and said something about the fact that those stars were all but gone. I understood what he was saying, but only on an intellectual level. I now fully understand what he was really trying to say. He wasn’t just talking about the stars, but his whole world. The world he knew when he was young was gone. The stars who represented and entertained it were dead. Now I see the stars I grew up with, many of whom appeared on the Tonight Show in the 1970’s and 1980’s are, at the very least, growing gray, and some of the older ones have died. I just can’t help but feel sad when I think about that because I know what that really means: the world I grew up with is long since past and the living reminders of it - friends, sports heroes, my old teachers, Hollywood stars, etc. - are all passing from the stage.
I am beginning to feel my age, and I can’t say I am thrilled about that.
God’s speed Tommy. You made us laugh. You thrilled us with your music. Honestly, was there EVER a better band than the Tonight Show band at its best?
May he rest in peace.
I seem to recall, that Johnny would tell a joke or something and the band would hold up signs giving it a score... 6.0, 7.5, etc. Tommy Newsome would always hold up a crude hand drawn face of a cat. It became a running joke over the years.
I loved it when Carson would interact with Tommy. His deadpan expressions were great. The contrast between Tommy and Doc were noticeable of course and Carson got great humor out of that. I miss those days of quality TV.
Thanks for your wonderfully written words.
Time goes by so quickly it sometimes seems the whole world has changed in a heartbeat. Sigh!
Sad news indeed. But just because your showbiz favorites are dying, don’t think it necessarily means you’re getting old. It could just mean that some areas of showbiz don’t mesh well with longevity. I grew up watching Carson, but listened to the Ramones in college. Tommy Newsom outlived three of the four Ramones.
BTW, if you want to see something really fun, do a search on You Tube for a "battle of the drummers" between Ed Shaunacy (sp?) and Buddy Rich. AMAZING!!!
Mark
Rest In Peace, Mr. Excitement, and thank you for the memories.
I remember one show where he got to sit on the couch (Ed and Doc were both away). He was HILARIOUS!
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