Still tying that yellow ribbon
BRANSON MO NEWS:
MIAMI, Okla. — Not once has legendary Tony Orlando ever turned his nose down at the Midwest and called it “flyover” country.In fact, long before he was one of the biggest names performing in Branson, he was quite familiar with the Show-Me State and its Ozarks region from a very early age.“As a child, I was about 11 or 12, my grandmother, my aunt, my mom and I drove from Los Angeles to New York City. We drove right through the Ozarks; right there on Route 66. And I remember — and I swear this is the truth — I said to my mother, “Where are we?” And she told me we were in the Ozarks of Missouri. And I said, ‘This is beautiful.’”
Despite being born in New York City, living for many years in Los Angeles and performing live in Las Vegas, this singer, songwriter, producer, music executive and actor said he loves Southwest Missouri and still considers it his home.“That’s one of the things I love about living here — the people still have (family) values,” he said. “I raised my daughter here because of that.”He got his start in Branson in a rather comical way, he said — he has the flu bug to thank for it. He was performing at the Fabulous Fox Theater in St. Louis in late 1991, he said, when he got a call from his friend, Roy Clark. The American singer and musician asked Orlando if he could travel four hours south to Branson to stand in for one of Clark’s musicians who was out that night with the flu.Because Clark was a friend, Orlando readily agreed.“I’m coming over Table Rock Dam and I say to one of the guys in the band, ‘Damn, this is beautiful,’” he said.Then, a …
Author:
Powered by WPeMatico
All Things Branson Sponsor:All Things Branson Sponsor: