"Dirty Laundry"

Michael Riedel is an American journalist and broadcaster. He is the theater columnist for the New York Post, the host of "On the Town With Michael Riedel" on AM970 in New York City, and co-host (with Susan Haskins) of the weekly talk show Theater Talk on PBS. His best-selling book "Razzle Dazzle: The Battle for Broadway" won the 2015 Marfield Prize for arts writing and is widely considered to be the successor to "The Season," William Goldman's classic 1967 book about Broadway. Riedel's skewering of Broadway shows and personalities in his column have made him a controversial and often feared figure on the New York theater scene. He has been called "the enfant terrible of the New York press".

Jimmy Webb

“A CELEBRATION OF THE MUSIC OF JIMMY WEBB: THE CAKE AND THE RAIN”
 
Jimmy Webb will be honored with a special tribute show at Carnegie Hall, this Wednesday, May 3rd.   ‘A Celebration of ‘The Music of Jimmy Webb: The Cake and the Rain’   will celebrate Webb’s creative legacy and hit songs, including “Wichita Lineman,” “MacArthur Park,” and “Galveston,” Hosted by Michael Douglas, a former room mate  of Mr. Webb’s, the concert will  feature performances from: Dwight Yoakam, Toby Keith, Graham Nash, Art Garfunkel, Amy Grant, Judy Collins Johnny Rivers,  Marilyn McCoo and Billy Davis, Jr. (of 5th Dimension),Ashley Campbell (Glen’s daughter), Catherine Zeta-Jones and Jimmy himself. The tribute event coincides with two milestones: Jimmy’s new memoir, The Cake and The Rain, set for publication on April 18 through St. Martin’s Press, and the upcoming 50th Anniversary of “Wichita Lineman.”
 
Proceeds from the concert will be donated to the Alzheimer’s Association and the I’ll Be Me Foundation in honor of Jimmy’s dear friend Glen Campbell.

Jimmy Webb’s name is synonymous with American songwriting. He has written numerous multi-platinum selling songs including “Up, Up, and Away,” “Wichita Lineman,” “Galveston,” and “MacArthur Park.” His hits span genres from country to pop to disco to hip-hop. Webb holds a rare position in the world of popular music – both composer and lyricist for all of his works, he is the only artist to have won Grammy Awards in music, lyrics, and orchestration and the youngest person ever to be inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame. Webb’s musical collaborations are as varied as his songs and include Glen Campbell, Frank Sinatra, Art Garfunkel, The 5th Dimension, Linda Ronstadt, Barbra Streisand, Nina Simone and Kanye West. In his memoir, THE CAKE AND THE RAIN (St. Martin’s Press: On sale: April 18, 2017) Webb delivers a snapshot of his early life, catapulting from Oklahoma farm boy to Hollywood cover boy. With lyrical and intimate prose, Webb reveals his deep and abiding storytelling ability on every page about the lifestyle he shared with many bold-faced names – in some cases offering insight into the moments that inspired his biggest selling songs. THE CAKE AND THE RAIN is hailed by Kirkus as “An insider’s view of the star-maker machinery and a treat for Webb’s many fans.” On May 3rd, there will be a tribute concert celebrating Webb and his music at Carnegie Hall with an impressive lineup of friends and musicians. Full details below.

THE CAKE AND THE RAIN is an immersive and fascinating memoir full of stories about larger than life characters. From a chance encounter with Louis Armstrong to being recognized from the stage by Sinatra, to making an album with Art Garfunkel to run-ins with Paul McCartney, George Harrison, and John Lennon, Webb has lived a rarefied life in the musical world.

Born in Oklahoma in 1946, Webb dutifully learned how to play piano at his mother’s insistence and developed a talent for improvisation while playing music in his father’s church services. Jimmy found himself on his own when he was only 17 and knew he had to make his way in the music industry to survive and fulfill his destiny. Success came quickly—“Up, Up, and Away” won the Grammy for Song of the Year in 1967. A solid musical identity and sense of direction proved to be more elusive. An early experimenter incorporating technology and music, and using classical arrangements in pop songs, Webb’s songs for Glen Campbell, Johnny Rivers, and Frank Sinatra brought both fame and money, but placed him distinctly musically apart from the artists he admired like Jackson Browne, Joni Mitchell and Harry Nilsson. In THE CAKE AND THE RAIN Webb describes, in his emotion-packed lyrical style, the road traveled to find himself as an artist all the while giving readers an experiential ride of the hedonistic 60s and early 70s: backstage with Elvis in Las Vegas; at his outdoor naked chamber music concert; in the room where the first Monterey Pop Festival was born; cavorting in Venice; in the recording studio with the Beatles in London; driving outrageously tricked out sports cars and flying a motor-less airplane—Webb was living fast and furious, until the demon of drug addiction took away almost everything—including the music.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

JIMMY WEBB, “America’s Songwriter,” is the author of the musician’s “bible,” Tunesmith: Inside the Art of Songwriting. Webb’s songs with their complex chord structure have been recorded or performed by artists from Frank Sinatra to Carly Simon, to R.E.M. He tours extensively performing his music and telling his stories in the United States and around the world. He was the youngest man ever inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame and in 2016 was named by Rolling Stone Magazine as one of the top fifty songwriters of all time. A father of six and grandfather of one, Webb lives with his wife, Laura Savini, in New York.

Anthony Mason

Anthony Mason is the co-host of "CBS This Morning: Saturday" and CBS News' Senior Business Correspondent. He is also a frequent contributor of cultural stories to "CBS News Sunday Morning with Charles Osgood". Mason has spent more than 30 years as a television journalist. In a quarter century as a correspondent for CBS News, he has reported from more than 30 countries and won seven Emmy Awards.

Mason joined CBS News in 1986. He was assigned to the London Bureau from 1987-1990 and traveled extensively, reporting for all CBS News broadcasts. He went into Afghanistan with the Mujahideen guerillas to cover the Soviet pullout; reported from Pakistan on the assassination of General Zia ul Haq and the rise of Benazir Bhutto; and went to the front lines in the Iran-Iraq war to witness Saddam Hussein's use of chemical weapons on the Kurds. He also covered the bombing of Pan Am flight 103 over Lockerbie, Scotland.

In 1989, Mason was the first journalist to report on the exodus of East German refugees through Hungary as the Iron Curtain began to crack. He followed the story to Czechoslovakia and Poland as their communist governments collapsed. Mason's work on the story won him the prestigious Alfred I. duPont-Columbia University Journalism Award presented to CBS News for its coverage of Eastern Europe.

From 1991 to 1993, Mason was CBS News' Chief Moscow Correspondent, where he reported on the coup attempt against Mikhail Gorbachev in August 1991, the rise of Boris Yeltsin and the demise of the Soviet Union, coverage which won him an Emmy Award.

Mason was named CBS News' Business Correspondent in 1998. His series, "Life and Debt in America," which aired on the "CBS Evening News" in early 2008, underscored some of the problems that ultimately led to the financial crisis and won him another Emmy. At the end of 2008, the business website Marketwatch.com named him the "Broadcast Journalist of the Year." Marketwatch.com's media critic wrote that Mason "personified a dying art in the media today: explanatory journalism. Night after night, Mason took pains to help his viewers understand what was unfolding on Wall Street and in Washington - and, most important, why they should care."

Mason hosts the annual "Money Issue" for "CBS News Sunday Morning with Charles Osgood", in addition to serving as a regular contributor. He has profiled politicians (Bill Clinton), business leaders (Henry Paulson), and musicians (Bruce Springsteen, Paul McCartney and Keith Richards.) His series on crime writers - he profiled more than 40 of them over a decade - won the Raven award from the Mystery Writers of America.

For the past decade, Mason has also been involved in election coverage for CBS News, providing exit poll analysis during the primaries and on election night.  

Prior to joining CBS News, Mason worked at KJRH-TV in Tulsa, Okla.; WCAU in Philadelphia; and WCBS-TV in New York City. Mason was born in New York City and is a graduate of St. George's School and Georgetown University (B.A. 1980). He and his wife, Christina, have three children and live in Westchester County, N.Y.

John McLaughlin

John McLaughlin has worked professionally as a strategic consultant and pollster for over 30 years. During this time he has earned a reputation for helping some of America’s most successful corporations and winning some of the toughest elections in the nation. His political clients have included former Presidential candidates Steve Forbes and Fred Thompson, former California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, former Florida Governor Jeb Bush, Georgia Governor Nathan Deal and 22 current and former U.S. Senators and 20 current Republican members of Congress.

Internationally, John has done work in Israel for Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu, The Conservative Party in the United Kingdom and for Prime Minister Stephen Harper of Canada.

He is founding partner of Opiniones Latinas, a public opinion research company dedicated to researching opinions of Latinos nationwide. John has appeared on every major broadcast and cable channel, as well as prominent radio talk shows across America. His articles have been published in a wide range of publications including National Review, Middle East Quarterly, Campaigns and Elections, and The Polling Report.

His work has been recognized by winning Telly and PR Week Campaign Awards.

John is a graduate of Fordham College (B.A) and holds an M.B.A. from Fordham University with concentrations in Finance and Quantitative Methods. He is also a member of MENSA.

Keith Law

Keith Law is a senior baseball writer for ESPN.com and ESPN Scouts, Inc. He was formerly a writer for Baseball Prospectus and worked in the front office for the Toronto Blue Jays. He is a member of the Baseball Writers Association of America.

 
On April 25th, we will be celebrating the release of the eagerly anticipated new book from ESPN Senior Baseball Writer Keith Law “SMART BASEBALL: The Story Behind the Old Stats That Are Ruining the Game, the New Ones That Are Running It, and the Right Way to Think About Baseball” (William Morrow), an intelligent, informative, and engaging incursion on the baseball establishment.
 
In this provocative book, the outspoken Law takes on the established view of baseball stats, undermining over a century’s worth of baseball dogma. With many of these numbers dating back to the beginning of the game, he examines how allegiance to these old stats is firmly rooted, not in the modern game as it’s played, but in baseball’s irrational adherence to tradition. Using entertaining anecdotes, logic, and occasionally just a little math, he exposes the flaws in much of the game’s orthodoxy, from the illusion of clutch performers, to the dishonesty of RBIs, to how the save rule - invented by a journalist - has ruined bullpens for decades.