Goodbye, Earl

On January 23, 2010, Earl Wild, the great classical pianist, died.  He was 94.  A long time resident of Columbus, he moved to Palm Springs, California, a few years ago – not to retire, but to continue his remarkable career in a more comfortable clime.

In 2001, I had the privilege to spend a pleasant afternoon with Wild in his home where he recorded his Grammy-winning album, The Romantic Master (which, as far as I can determine, was the first Grammy won by someone residing in the Columbus area).  I was there to present him with a certificate signifying his induction into The Columbus Senior Musicians Hall of Fame, Inc.  Given all of the honors he received over his lengthy career, I didn’t even know if he would acknowledge it, but he was quite gracious.  I felt it was important for us to recognize him as a member of our musical community, particularly since, in my opinion, he was frequently overlooked.  We discussed that and many other subjects in our free-ranging conversation, but I won’t go into that, now.  Rather, I want to delve into his “other” career.

For example, Wild played the organ on John Zacherley’s television show in NYC for several years.  Zacherely was the “cool ghoul” who hosted late night monster movies and had several regional hit records such as “Dinner With Drac” and “Zacherely For President.”   Wild remembers him as a smart and fun, but eccentric individual who once sent all the network executives mounted chicken feet as Christmas gifts.  I think the fact that Wild had an appreciation for Zacherley’s skewed sense of humor says a lot about the man who has been described as  a “super-virtuoso in the Horowitz class.”

Wild also looked back fondly on the four years he spent as a studio musician for Sid Caesar’s television show.  He told me Caesar was one of the kindest and dearest people he ever met.  Caesar valued the pianist’s ability to improvise any type or style of music they needed for the show, from jazz to opera.  Not surprisingly, Wild also held the late Imogene Coca in high regard, but couldn’t stand Mel Brooks.  He described him as rude, obnoxious, and unbelievably crude.  According to Wild, many people quit the show because of Brooks, but Caesar stood by him for some reason he couldn’t fathom.

One of Wild’s disappointments was that the Columbus Symphony Orchestra never showed any real interest in having him perform with them.  He told me Alessandro Siciliani wanted him to play something “special” — a piece that was not part of his regular repertoire — which would not have made any sense from a financial standpoint.  If Wild invested the time to learn a particular piece, he had to be able to perform it several times during the year.

One of the many funny anecdotes told about Wild is that he claimed to have become an atheist at the age of 10 when he asked his mother how there could be a God when the organist at their local church (in his hometown of Pittsburgh) was so lousy!

I decided to call this post “Goodbye, Earl” so people searching for the Dixie Chicks song might stumble across it.  I thought Wild, who once referred to Lang Lang, a rising star in classical circles, as the “J-Lo of the piano,” would appreciate it.

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