Equal time for the OTHER steve martins


National Public Radio (NPR)
Talk of the Nation 3:00 AM EST NPR
October 25, 2004 Monday
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Our interview last week with entertainer extraordinaire Steve Martin inspired a lot of response, and perhaps the most inspired came from a Mr. S.L. Martin(ph) of Elk Point, South Dakota, who did not have time to call in. `On behalf of the country's many Steve Martins without personalities,' he wrote, `I would have confronted Mr. Martin about the burden he has put on all of us. For the last 27 years, I could not buy a pair of socks at a Sears store without the clerk checking my credit card and responding, "Well, excuse me." There are many Steve Martins, too numerous to mention, who have grudgingly saluted Mr. Martin's strategy to launch his career by spoofing buffoons, but who have paid the price by having their own career aspirations truncated. As one of my fellow Steve Martins climbing the legal ladder as a district attorney many years ago remarked to me, "I use my middle name an awful lot now. Call my Charlie. I can't approach the jury anymore without a public defender loudly whispering `Happy feet' to the foreman."'

S.L. Martin went on to suggest that the proceeds from Steve Martin's latest novel, "The Pleasure of My Company," could be used to establish a Steve Martin relief fund for poor unfortunates caught in his wake.

During that show, many of you noted Steve Martin's skill with the banjo, and he mentioned his Grammy-winning performance with Earl Scruggs. We did not have time to play that performance last week, but here for you now is Earl Scruggs and Steve Martin performing "Foggy Mountain Breakdown" from the album "Earl Scruggs & Friends."

(Soundbite of "Foggy Mountain Breakdown")
- posted by sookeyjane 10/26/2004 06:20:00 PM PERMALINK 0 COMMENTS