The La Crosse Tribune from La Crosse, Wisconsin • 26

2 La Crosse Tribune, Saturday, February 16, 1985 seeks share of punster Riviera? A. They like to see the French fry. What do you call a potato bom your neighborhood? A chip off the old block. I can hear the groans now. Bad puns, you say? Why, McMahon is just getting warmed up.

The really spud-tacular jokes are yet to come. Ogden Mash. Who was the first great spud philosopher? Platato. Why do potatoes make such good friends? You can count on them when the chips are down. Who is the poet laureate of Potato Ever since man first decided to go on a diet, potatoes have been getting a bad rap.

These innocent little tubers have been burned at the stake by caloriecounting critics who gasp in horror at the vision of thick thighs and bulging waistlines brought on by overconsumption of potatoes smothered in butter, sour cream and chives. But spuds of the world, unite. You are about to gain the attention and respect you have long deserved but been denied. At last, a valiant knight comes forward to do battle for the potato. Paul McMahon has amassed (or should I say amashed?) a collection of jokes which should alleviate some of the serious debate surrounding potatoes.

His light-hearted look at these tasty tubers can be found in Potato Jokes, available from Long Shadow Books, a division of Simon and Schuster for $3.95. A sample of what lurks within the heart of potato-loving McMahons joke book: What do you call a male chauvinist potato? A masher. Why do potatoes vacation on the gravy Uncle, Uncle, you cry. Youd rather be baked along with a batch of Idahos or fried with a bunch of french fries than suffer through any more of this mash-ochistic humor? Nonsense. Some of the best potato puns are yet to come.

What holiday is sacred to all potatoes? Mash Wednesday. What kind of potato rents more than one room in a hotel? A suite potato. What did the judge say when sen--tencing a convicted potato? Youll fry for this. The jokes continue, but Ill spare all you little tater tots out there. Lest you think, however, that McMahon is content to rest with just one tater title to his credit, beware.

Even now, with the ink barely dry on his first joke book, McMahon is eyeing new ways to peel jokes out of a potato for a second volume and he wants your help. Anyone with a spud joke who is willing to share may send it to McMahon, care of Cognoscenti Books, 611 Broadway, New York City. Y. 10012. I Hedges to blow into town Veteran clarinetist Chuck Hedges will be In town on Saturday, Feb.

23, to perform with Al Townsend's Wonderful World Jazz Band in an 8 p.m. concert in the Pump House, 119 King St. Drawing on what he terms the "the simpler era" of jazz Dixieland and swing Hedges performed In his native Chicago In the 1950s with such pros as trombonist George Brunlis, trumpeter Mugsy Spaniar and drummer Hey Hey Humphrey. Later, In Milwaukee, performing partners included trumpeter Dick Ruedebusch. All seats for the concert are priced at $6.

Further Information and reservations are available by calling the Pump House. On off the record Lmdy Shannon Cooke got soul Sam Cooke is hailed as the father of soul music as we know it today. He had a powerful influence on many of his soul contemporaries, including Aretha Franklin, Smokey Robinson, Johnny Nash, Marvin Gaye Otis Redding. It is one of those tragic coincidences that both men died in the midst of promising careers, within three years of each other almost to the day. Redding died on Dec.

10, 1967, in a plane crash near Madison, and Cooke on Dec. 11, 1964. As a youngster Cooke was immersed in gospel music. His father was a minister in Chicago, and 9-year-old Sam, along with one of his brothers and two sisters, were featured singers in a church group called the Singing Children. As a teen-ager, he sang with another gospel group.

The Highway QCs, and in 1950 he joined the Soul Stirrers, with whom he sang and recorded for the next six years. Cooke always had an ambition to move away from gospel music, and in 1957, with the help of Little Richard's manager. Bumps Blackwell, he recorded the-single You Send Me, which was written by his brother, Charles. It went on to sell more than 2 million copies and top the national hit parade. This is about the time I became aware of the Sam Cooke magic.

He possessed a velvet-like voice, which was adaptable to a cool ballad like Cupid or a beat opus like "Another Saturday Night. Cooke wrote most of his own material, including the block- music cooking buster Chain Gang. One of the few exceptions was Wonderful World, which was written by Lou Adler and Herb Alpert of the Tijuana Brass. Rocker Rod Stewart refers to Cooke as his favorite singer, and to prove it recorded two of his standards, Bring It On Home To Me and Twistin The Night Away. From 1960 to the time of his death, Cooke had sold nearly 20 million records.

He divided his time between touring and appearing in Las Vegas nightclubs, where he was in great demand. always have been conflicting stories concerning his death, but I believe this to be the truthful account of what happened. On Dec. 11, 1964, he was allegedly trying to rape a 22-year-old woman in a Los Angeles motel, when she broke away from him, ran outside unclothed and hid in a phone' booth. Cooke, clad only in a shirt, went to the motel office, which was closed, and pounded frantically on the door.

He awakened the elderly woman attendant, who mistook him for a burglar and shot him three times at close range. He was killed instantly. The court later returned a verdict of justifiable homicide, claiming the woman shot in self-defense. Sam Cooke was dead at 29. Lindy Shannon is president of Lin-Beck Enterprises, a band-book ing agency, and has been active on the local music scene for three 4 9 j1'.

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