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Husband and wives making beautiful music together

Desi and Lucy 10 years in.
Elena-lu
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Flickr
Desi and Lucy 10 years in.

Being married is hard enough, but combine that with working together and you’ve got a tough proposition, so to speak.  It didn’t work out well for Ike and Tina Turner or for Sonny and Cher, but there are many musical couples who stayed together til the end.

Steve Lawrence and Eydie Gorme are still married after 54 years. She’s retired from showbiz, but Steve is still performing. Here’s a clip of them 10 years into wedlock:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n_IIaC20ZzI&feature=related

“America’s Singing Sweethearts” Jeanette McDonald and Nelson Eddy were married, but not to each other. They made several successful films for MGM, and were rumored to have a torrid off-screen romance. You can see the sparks fly in this clip of “Indian Love Call”:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=87bUBB-rwFc

Johnny Cash and June Carter got married in a fever, hotter than a pepper sprout. In fact, Johnny asked her to marry him during a live performance in 1968. The marriage lasted until 2003, when they died within months of each other. Here’s a Johnny & June onstage with “Jackson":

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nzhzCF77GDo

And then there’s Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz, one of the most powerful couples in entertainment. They had a passionate and stormy relationship that ended in divorce, but they remained good friends. Lucy didn’t sing often, but here they are together with “Cuban Pete”:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1iwOFoSVfbU

Every week on “Record bin Roulette,” KPLU’s John Kessler and John Maynard put an insightful and fun spin on a century's worth of discarded vinyl. The feature is published here and airs on KPLU 88.5 every Thursday during Morning Edition, All Things Considered and on Weekend Saturday Edition.

John has worked as a professional bassist for 20 years, including a 15 year stint as Musical Director of the Mountain Stage radio program. John has been at KNKX since 1999 where he hosts “All Blues”, is producer of the BirdNote radio program, and co-hosts “Record Bin Roulette”. John is also the recording engineer for KNKX “In-Studio Performances”. Not surprisingly, John's main musical interests are jazz and blues, and he is still performing around Seattle.
John Maynard started working in radio in the seventies as a DJ at Seattle’s KJR AM which at the time was the dominant AM station in the Seattle market. After a brief stint as a restaurateur and night club owner, Maynard returned to radio with Robin Erickson, creating the hugely popular “Robin and Maynard Show.” In the more than 20 years under that marquee, Maynard flew with the Blue Angels, piloted the Goodyear Blimp, sang with Donny Osmond and hung out in a Universal Studios bar with Kojak (Telly Savalas).