Music for Lovers Only: Sherriff Bufford T. Justice Does Music
Jackie Gleason was a very versatile entertainer. I first became acquainted with Jackie Gleason not through Ralph Kramden from The Honeymooners , but through Sherriff Buford T. Justice from the Cannonball Run movies. It wasn't until I was a teenager when I first watched The Honeymooners and was blown away by the comic timing of the entire cast. I remember thinking, "They sure don't make shows like this anymore." Now, in my forties, I have become acquainted with another side of Jackie Gleason: musical conductor and composer. In the early 1950s, Jackie Gleason put together a popular series of instrumental albums that catered to mood. The first was Music for Lovers Only , which was originally released in 1952. A longer, stereo version came out in 1954. I just happened to pick up a decent copy of that album at Half Price Books for fifty cents. The cover features a close up of a table, two empty wine glasses in the background. A p...