I just got word that one of my dearest friends, Stan Orlow, passed away on Wednesday. Stan was a rollicking entertainer who held forth at The Beach Ball in Newport Beach for many years. He had the wildest XXX-rated show that included such wonderful variations of Kingston Trio classics as "...I don't give a f__ about a greenback dollar." He was the type of entertainer who could wrap an audience around his little finger, and at a whopping 350 pounds, he had a good-sized little finger.
One night we happened to drop by The Beach Ball after a concert in the area and Stan's keyboard player was being serviced by a female audience member on-stage as he played the piano. And that was pretty much standard fare for a Stan Orlow show.
During my hiatus from The Kingsto Trio in the 1990's, Stan and I formed a short-lived duo called Biggs & Little. I was Bobby Biggs and he was Stan Little. The irony of the name is obvious in the photo below. I say "short-lived" because we were fired from our first and only gig because Stan insisted on opening the show with "The Rodeo Song." From there we went right into "Dolly Parton's Tits" and straight downhill from there. That format worked at the Beach Ball, but apparently Denver wasn't ready for Stan. It was a fun night and we did get paid, but we were never invited back.
I was delighted when Stan informed me a couple months ago that his sister lives here in Medford, and thankfully we were able to connect before Stan's passing. Stan's children are planning a memorial hootenanny in his honor next month. I hope I can find a way to get there - he deserves a good send-off.
Rest in peace, good buddy.
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