www.nytimes.com/…
Tom Smothers, the older half of the comic folk duo the Smothers Brothers, whose skits and songs on “The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour” in the late 1960s brought political satire and a spirit of youthful irreverence to network television, paving the way for shows like “Saturday Night Live” and “The Daily Show,” died on Tuesday at his home in Santa Rosa, Calif., a city in Sonoma County. He was 86.
He died “following a recent battle with cancer,” a spokesman for the National Comedy Center announced on behalf of the family.
The Smothers Brothers made their way to network television as a folk act with a difference. With Tom playing guitar and Dick playing stand-up bass, they spent as much time bickering as singing.
With an innocent expression and a stammering delivery, Tom would try to introduce their songs with a story, only to be picked at by his skeptical brother. As frustration mounted, he would turn, seething, and often deliver a trademark non sequitur: “Mom always liked you best.”
So much more here. . .
Please feel free to reminisce and share your stories about watching this show on TV way back then (if you were around). Otherwise, there are plenty of videos on YouTube to savor.
I’ll start, with their famous/infamous segment of February 25, 1968, when Pete Seeger sang about the Vietnam conflict with “Waist Deep In The Big Muddy”