Backstage at The Tonight Show: From Johnny Carson to Jay Leno

Front Cover
Rowman & Littlefield, 2006 - Biography & Autobiography - 233 pages
Don Sweeney was with the Tonight Show for nearly twenty years, and was one of the few staff members asked to remain when Jay Leno took over in 1992. This book is a collection of celebrity vignettes and anecdotes from the peak years of the Tonight Show, and includes behind-the-scenes looks at more than two dozen celebrities, including Bill Cosby, Frank Sinatra, David Letterman, Regis Philbin, Ray Charles, Tony Randall, Buddy Rich, Don Rickles, Stevie Wonder, Ed McMahon, and Johnny Carson himself. With an eye for the eccentric, amusing, or downright bizarre, Sweeney's brief portraits offer a glimpse at celebrity from the other side of the curtain.--Publisher description.
 

Contents

The King of Late Night and I
1
Doc Severinsen and the Tonight Show Band
118
Brushes with Celebrity
126
Buddy Rich
169
Jay Leno
179
Tonight Show Hits the Road
199
Branford Marsalis and the Tonight Show Band
214
Thats a Wrap
224
Appendix What the Al Pined or Oh Cmon Did He Really Say That?
228
Copyright

Other editions - View all

Common terms and phrases

About the author (2006)

Don Sweeney was Music Supervisor with the Tonight Show until his departure in 1995. A professional musician himself, his band was asked by Johnny Carson to play at several Tonight Show anniversary parties throughout the 1980s. He lives in Los Angeles, CA.

Bibliographic information