Hi amjfan,
Thank you for your interesting question. (I loved him in My Cousin
Vinny!) Too funny. :)
Joe Pesci, singer- Originally published on September 19, 2003
http://www.nydailynews.com/entertainment/story/118787p-107058c.html
When you think about Joe Pesci, you think of the mob wiseguy
screaming, "I'm funny how? Funny like a clown? I amuse you? I make you
laugh?" in "Goodfellas."
Or the tough Brooklyn lawyer talking about "these two yoots" in "My Cousin Vinny."
Or even the annoying sidekick stammering "Okay, okay, okay, okay,
okay!" in the "Lethal Weapon" films.
So what was Joe Pesci doing on the small stage of the Blue Note club
on Wednesday night?
Singing.
The he was, dressed in a black shirt and sporting hipster sideburns,
standing in front of a jazz quartet and styling "All of Me" and "All,
or Nothing at All" in a reedy but compelling voice
It was the New York debut of what Pesci calls his "Joe Doggs" persona
- the name he uses as a singer.
And guess what? He wasn't bad.
Accompanied by organist Joey DeFrancesco and tenor saxophonist Jerry
Weldon, Pesci-as-Doggs even infused a downbeat, bourbon-at-3 a.m. edge
to slow versions of "Love Potion No. 9" and "On the Street Where you
Live."
But why is he singing instead of making movies?
Amazingly, Pesci - one of the hottest actors around during the 1990s -
hasn't made a film in five years, since 1998's "Lethal Weapon 4."
No one really knows why.
Pesci himself wasn't talking about it.
His management told the Daily News that the 60-year-old actor simply
"hasn't been interested in the things that have been offered to him."
Of course it isn't that easy to make audiences forget about many of
the characters he played on screen.
At a recent show he performed outside Philadelphia, crowds shouted out
lines from his movies as he crooned.
This isn't the first time Pesci has tried to launch a music career.
In the '60s, he sang in nightclubs and recorded an album as Little Joe Ritchie.
In 1998, he released "Vincent LaGuardia Gambini Sings Just for You."
(Gambini was Pesci's "My Cousin Vinny" character.)
He hasn't said where the new name, Joe Doggs, comes from, though
Pesci's character in 1995's "Casino" grabs a guy named Tony Dogs and
puts his head in a vise.
This past summer, Doggs and DeFrancesco released a CD on noted jazz label Concord.
Wednesday's audience at the Blue Note were happily surprised to find
that he and Doggs were the same.
"I had no idea that it was going to be him," said Amy Chow, 26, who
was visiting with a friend from Stamford, Conn.
"If you closed your eyes, you wouldn't know it was Joe Pesci."
*****
Commentary: Joe Pesci, jazz stylist -- seriously!
http://quickstart.clari.net/qs_se/webnews/wed/ar/Uus-pesci-analysis.R-kS_DNO.html
Monday, 24-Nov-2003 3:20PM PST - Story from United Press International
Copyright 2003 by United Press International (via ClariNet)
Hammond B-3 organ player Joey DeFrancesco's newest CD on the Concord
Jazz label is called "Falling in Love Again." It features the top
young organist's stellar band on 11 standards joined by a fine singer
in the Jimmy Scott tradition, a mystery man who on record and on stage
goes by the name "Joe Doggs."
While fueling some speculation and even disbelief at first, the true
identity of the singer rapidly became the worst-kept secret in jazz.
It is none other than actor Joe Pesci. Not that DeFrancesco, Pesci or
even Concord Records executives or Pesci's agent will admit it for the
record -- or talk about it.
Does that surprise you or amuse you? -- as Pesci's "Goodfellas" tough
guy character might ask.
Mum's the word these days, and it has been from day one -- other than
one Pesci-as-Doggs interview published two months ago in the New York
Observer.
The fact that Pesci sticks to his musical persona is a credit to the
project, when all is said and done. But there undoubtedly were some
interesting choices and issues confronting all involved.
For example:
- Absent a star like Diana Krall or a surprising rookie singer like
Norah Jones, rare is the jazz album on any sort that will sell more
than 30,000 copies. Frequently, those CD totals are far less.
- Does an independent label like Concord, which escaped bankruptcy
several years ago, continue to plod along with those average sales
figures, or should it try to capitalize on the Pesci name to grab the
brass ring in CD sales?
- Can a Joe Pesci be taken seriously as a singer given his character
actor background?
Pesci, 60, has carved a niche in film with his unforgettable
characters --the Brooklyn lawyer Vincent LaGuardia Gambini in "My
Cousin Vinny," a mob wiseguy in "Goodfellas" and a sidekick in the
"Lethal Weapon" flicks.
But many fans and listeners may not realize that the Newark, N.J.,
native's interest in music as a career predates his screen notoriety.
During the 1960s, Pesce was a lounge singer and guitarist in and
around Philadelphia, New York and Atlantic City. He recorded an album
during that phase under the name Joe Ritchie that was titled "Little
Joe Sure Can Sing." And in 1998, Columbia released Pesci's "Vincent
LaGuardia Gambini Sings Just For You" on the heels of the "Vinnny"
film.
Back in the 1950s, as a teenager growing up in Newark's Italian North
Ward, Pesci wanted to sing like jazz legend Jimmy Scott and spent
considerable time following him around during Scott's Newark phase.
"He'd listen to me and encourage me," Pesci said in Scott's
fascinating 2002 biography, "Faith in Time," by David Ritz. "Some days
he'd disappear for days at a time, but when I caught up with him ...
he'd smile and welcome me into his world. ... We'd sing together
nonstop for hours, sometimes all night. ... He became my guru. I
became his shadow."
There is more than a hint of Scott in the vocals of Joe Doggs -- or
Pesci if you prefer. At first listen, even to more than casual fans of
the mentor, the voice on "Falling in Love Again" sounds like Scott, or
perhaps a younger Scott, right down to the timing and nuanced
phrasing. But then you realize it is someone influenced by him, not
trying to mimic his singular heartbreaking style.
"I've known and loved Joe (Doggs) as a performer and friend since I
was a kid, and I've wanted to do a project with him for a long time,"
DeFrancesco wrote in the CD notes. "A lot of singers want their band
to play quiet, but I've always liked the fact that he sees his voice
as an instrument and wants the band to groove."
Pesci performed two gigs with DeFrancesco's quartet at Vincent's in
West Chester, Pa., in July and did a week with the band at New York's
Blue Note jazz club in mid-September.
In the New York Observer interview with Bill Tonelli, Doggs noted that
at his debut gig at Vincent's, some people in the crowded room
detracted from evening by yelling some of Pesci's best-known movie
lines. He wants to appeal to jazz fans who are there for the music of
the moment, not movie or pop culture fans who show up to gawk at a
movie star.
"All that does is make it hard for me to do this, because then the
wrong people will show up," he told the newspaper. "If you look at all
the things they write about actors who try and sing, all they
(critics) do is (expletive) kill them. I am not a (expletive) circus
and I don't want to be part of one."
While not having made a film in five years, he was in an enviable position.
There was no need to capitalize on the Joe Pesci name. He was able to
record this fine music on his own terms, and let it stand or fall on
its own merits.
And stand it does.
=================================================
Pat Martino Guesbook
http://www.patmartino.com/Guestbook%20Archives/guestbook_archive_sep_1999.html
Pat -- Thanks for the wonderful time at The Blue Note last night!! We
were thrilled to be able to hear your playing. It was truly a
privelege to spend some time talking with you (and it was an added
pleasure meeting Joe Pesci as well!).
=================================================
Joe Pesci
http://henancius.martin-scorsese.net/pesci/news.html
2004, February 1st - Great news! According to imdb.com, Joe Pesci will
star in Be Cool, the Get Shorty (1995) sequel. The cast also includes
John Travolta, Uma Thurman and Danny DeVito. Will the funny guy be
back on the big screen at last?? Let's hope so.
*****
Be Cool (Unforunately, Joe Pesci not listed.)
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0377471/
Since this project is categorized as being in production, the data is
subject to change or could be removed completely.
===============================================
According to the Message Board: Wutang.corp - Where are they now?
http://www.wutangcorp.com/archive/index.php/t-38585.html
July 13th, 2004, 15:40
Joe Pesci is doing Be Cool if am not mistaken, but don't quote me on
it. You might want to check that out later.
July 13th, 2004, 15:50
Nah those were rumours started by Pesci fans. He ain't gonna be in that movie.
================================================
Selling product or selling out?
When great actors do television commercials, they cheapen their legacies
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/4543183/
Joe Pesci also has gotten into the act. Lately he can be seen in an
SBC Global campaign, in which he parodies his Mafioso image to counsel
two youngsters on high-speed phone service. I realize Joe isn?t
Olivier. After all, he was in "Home Alone." But he does have an
best-supporting actor Oscar for "Goodfellas." If he really needs the
dough, he could pawn it, or sell it outright on eBay. Do we really
have to endure seeing him on one channel admonishing kids in a
commercial, then hit the remote and see him being admonished by the
judge in "My Cousin Vinny"?
=================================================
AM I Annoying.com
http://www.amiannoying.com/(zmyjrqruqjmxxyukvw41id55)/view.aspx?ID=16
He did a voice over for the 'Pepsi Girl' commercials.
*****
http://www.bombayinstitute.com/archive/19990708.htm
At least that little girl with Joe Pesci's voice isn't quite as
irritating as a banner screaming "Click me!!!"
*****
Who is the young girl in the Pepsi commercials?
http://www.americanprofile.com/issues/20010415/20010415_724.asp
Hallie Kate Eisenberg, 8, began acting at age 3 but stole the nation?s
heart in 1998 when she began appearing in Pepsi commercials. The first
commercial had her asking for a Pepsi, but the server gave her a Coke
instead, and she makes her disapproval known in the voice of Joe
Pesci.
*****
Pepsi-Cola's broader advertising aims to revive flagship brand
http://www.financialexpress.com/fe/daily/19990315/fco15060.html
The three new commercials reprise the ``little girl'' ad that ran last
summer. The spot, which wasn't part of the `Generation Next' campaign,
featured a child asking for a Pepsi at a diner. When she finds out the
store serves only Coke, actor, Joe Pesci's voice comes out of her
mouth, snarling, ``I asked for a Pepsi, pal.''
=================================================
September 8, 2000 - Joe Pesci signs up for sitcom (I was unable to
locate more on this... but here is what the article said.)
http://www.canoe.ca/JamMoviesArtistsP/pesci_joe.html
Movie tough-guy Joe Pesci has signed on for a recurring role in a new
sitcom about the culture clash between the Mob and the world of
stand-up comics.
The Hollywood Reporter says the untitled series will cast Pesci as a
Mob figure who acquires a comedy club as collateral for a debt. Pesci
will appear in the pilot and will also make occasional appearances.
Lawrence Lyttle, president of producers Big Ticket TV, told The
Hollywood Reporter that Pesci's role would be like Carl Reiner's role
on the old "Dick Van Dyke Show," a heavy off-camera presence that
would occasionally make on-screen guest appearances.
"Having Joe Pesci on a recurring basis will give the show such a
wonderful, special quality," Lyttle told The Hollywood Reporter
=================================================
Joe Pesci - Why is he not working anymore?
http://us.imdb.com/name/nm0000582/board/nest/8025560
I know! The ONLY thing I saw him in, in the past few years was a
commercial a few months ago. Can't remember if it was for cell phones
or Internet service? But I was shocked to see him, I hope he's in good
health? Wasssss Uppppp????
yup yup , it was a SBC commercial. They should make more mafia movies
with this guy in it :)
i dont think he wants to be type cast and the only role he has been
offered are mafia roles. he is good in other things like my cousin
vinny which i think is ace. and he might want do a variety of films
like more funnier roles ie lethal weapon 2,3 & 4 as leo.other than
thaqt he might not want to work or has retired because he he will have
a nice bank balance.
i did see it here a while ago that he was going to be in be cool but
it has been removed so i dont know weather he is in it or not
I think that I saw him at a basketball game recently but I don't know
which one it was.
=================================================
Biography on A&E (2 pages)
http://www.celebritywonder.com/html/joepesci.html
=================================================
Interesting site showing movies Joe Pesci appeared in, role he played,
and all the numbers for 1st weekend, US Gross, and Worldwide Gross
http://www.the-numbers.com/people/JPESC.html
=================================================
Joe Pesci (site takes a long time to load)
http://www.celebritywonder.com/cgi-bin/frame/frame.cgi?joepesci==http://come.to/pesci
=================================================
Best regards,
tlspiegel |
