Monday; Feb. 11, 1963 University Daily Kansan
Page 7
Brothers-Lean Years First, Then Feast
—Photos by Murrel Bland and Gary Grazda
By Jackie Helstrom
True Name of the Brothers They Claim It's 'Smothers'
The Smothers Brothers' name really is Smothers, and Tom and Dick really are brothers.
"Yes, our name really is Smothers, and Tom and I really are brothers," answered Dick Smothers to the question that they said is asked of them everywhere they go.
In an interview after their performance in Hoch Auditorium Saturday night, they verified this and told of some of the highlights in their career.
Following some microphone trouble at the outset of the performance, the show went smoothly.
BUT TOM SMOTHERS, commenting on the performance afterwards, said he felt that he and his brother had relied too much upon comedy.
"In the act, we don't have more than two songs together, but this is because we just started working with our accompanist, Dick Rosmini, and haven't had time between shows to practice," he said.
Tom explained that they felt that one guitar and one bass weren't enough for a large room, so they added Rosmini to the act to play guitar and banjo; but as of Saturday night they had given only three performances with him, and still were in the process of working out timing.
He also said that although he thought everything went pretty well Saturday night, at their last performance —at Michigan State University—they had been off tune all evening.
"ONE GUITAR WAS out of tune, and that fouled up everything else." he commented.
The Smothers Brothers began their career in March, 1959, while in college at San Jose State College (Calif.) but they had been singing together for several years.
"Our family was much opposed to our career," Tom Smothers said, "because it meant we had to quit school."
They said that it was two years before they appeared for the first time on the "Jack Paar Show" on NBC. After this the success began.
"TWO YEARS OF famine, two of feast," were the words they used to describe their career up to now.
As for the future, they are now on a tour of 40 colleges that will last through April. After that, they have an engagement in New York City at a club in Greenwich Village, "The Village Inn." Then, in June, they go to Europe for a tour of Army bases, and hope to spend four extra weeks there after the tour.
House Improvement Finally Completed
After three years of work, the Episcopalian student association has completed improvements on their house.
When the private home at 1116 Louisiana was purchased in 1959, the plans were to make the house into two rooms: a chapel on the top floor and a meeting room on the ground. The chapel was completed at that time, but the work on the ground floor could not be accomplished without professional help.
Finished just before semester break, the new room was completed in time for the visit of the Kansas Episcopal Bishop to the Canterbury House on Sunday, December 23.
This year, through the aid of a grant from the National Canterbury Association, the work on the meeting room has been completed.
Costa Rican Historian To Speak Thursday
Dr. Jorge Lines, a visiting lecturer of history from Costa Rica, will speak on "Notes on Costa Rican Archaeology" at 7:30 p.m. Thursday in the Forum Room of the Kansas Union.
Dr. Lines will speak at the meeting of the Kansas Society of the Archaeological Institute of America.
Archaeological Institute of North
Prof. Frank E. Brown of Yale
University will speak on "Hadrian's
Pantheon," Feb. 21.
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Electrical Sweater Lifts Show
A KU electrician wearing a bright red sweater added his "bit" to the Smothers Brothers' performance Saturday night.
When the Smothers Brothers appeared on stage following a short performance by their accompanist, singer and guitarist Dick Rosmini, they asked if everyone in the audience could hear.
THE MICROPHONE had gone dead.
A few minutes later, however, the trouble was corrected by the electrician who walked on stage and
changed the cord on the microphone.
changed the cord on the microphone. His entrance was greeted by a laugh from the audience. He was wearing a bright red sweater that matched the red sport coats worn by the Smothers Brothers.
The electrician attributed the trouble to water in the tube through which the microphone cord is run. He said that the stage at Hoch had been scrubbed that afternoon and water probably leaked into the tube. To correct the trouble a cord without the protective tube had to be used.
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