Time for La Crosse music lovers to “Take Five,” 54 years ago

The Dave Brubeck Quartet, known for the jazz song “Take Five,” performed at La Crosse’s vocational school auditorium on December 9th, 1965.  Tickets went for $2 and $2.50.  In honor of the Brubeck show, Danny’s House of Music on Main Street was promoting some of the jazzman’s popular records.  Also on sale at Danny’s, a comedy album called “Welcome to the LBJ Ranch,” featuring jokes built around actual recordings of President Johnson and others.   

On the same night that Dave Brubeck was in La Crosse, the “Charlie Brown Christmas” special aired for the first time on CBS, featuring a jazz soundtrack by the Vince Guaraldi Trio.  Other shows on TV that night included “Gilligan’s Island,” “My Three Sons,” and “The Dean Martin Show,” with guests Louis Armstrong, Rich Little, and the Andrews Sisters, in 1965, yesterday in La Crosse.