Goon with the Wind (Max Geldray with John R. Vance) lands on the shelves of my shop, where it will be found in my Biography section. priced at just £4.00!
London: Robson Books, 1989, (First Edition) Hardback in dust wrapper.
Contains: Black & white photographs;
From the cover: Throughout the glorious Goon Show years, the fine jazz harmonica playing of Max Geldray was a highly popular feature of the show.
In this captivating autobiography Dutch-born Geldray writes about the heady days of the Goons and of Europe before the war, when he played in leading jazz groups, eventually becoming the soloist in the famous Ray Ventura Orchestra in France. He vividly recalls Paris in the thirties, his friendship there with Django Reinhardt, as well as the other personalities he knew and worked with Maurice Chevalier, Coleman Hawkins and Duke Ellington among them. With the German invasion of France, Geldray managed to reach England, which then become his home for many years. He now lives in the States, working at the Betty Ford Center in Palm Springs.
Of great interest to Goon fans everywhere will be Geldrays inside account of the show and his stories about the Goons themselves, with whom he toured regularly in Variety. His anecdotes and memories of Messrs Bentine, Milligan, Secombe and Sellers are a delight, and his affectionate and revealing memoir of Peter Sellers, his closest friend, will be treasured.
Very Good in Very Good Dust Wrapper. Edges of the text block lightly spotted.
Red boards with Gilt titling to the Spine. 176 pages. 8¾” x 5¾”.
