Why retire when you can keep playing great music into your 80s! And be careful about betting. You might just lose.
This is episode 60 of Caffe Lena: 60 Years of Song. Thank you to Sarah at the Caffe for the list of songs and artists for the feature.
Doc Severinsen hasn’t been seen or heard on TV since Johnny Carson’s Tonight Show ended in 1992. But he is one of the least retired 85 year olds. He met the members of San Miguel 5 in Mexico when he thought he was going to retire. He wound up sitting with the band and then touring with the group.
J. S. Ondara can trace his entire career back to a bad bet. As a teenager in Nairobi Kenya, he once swore to a friend that the song “Knockin on Heaven’s Door” was written by his favorite band Guns N Roses and not by someone named Bob Dylan. After losing the bet, he discovered Dylan, memorized much of his catalog, and began to research the history of American folk music.
Caffe Lena: 60 Years of Song, a production of WEXT Radio.