the 70s: Last News

she had been in her brother Francis Ford Coppola‘s shoes, she wouldn’t have hired herself for the role of Connie Corleone in “The Godfather.”Alluding to the fact that Paramount Pictures execs were mulling whether to fire director Coppola from the production she revealed, “it was really tough for Francis.”Shire, 75, added, “And I think the last thing he needed was his sister at that time … It added one more tension for him … I wouldn’t have had me on the set.”But the actress also noted that she “had to audition” for the role — and she and her big bro, now 82, eventually “enjoyed a collaborative professional relationship on that movie.”Shire, who played the challenging role of the only daughter of Don Corleone — married to ne’er do well Carlo Rizzi (Gianni Russo) — said that the harrowing scene where a clearly pregnant Connie is throwing dishes while dodging blows from her onscreen husband was difficult to shoot.“It’s a rough thing to see a pregnant woman being knocked around,” she acknowledged before explaining that legendary cinematographer Gordon Willis was “in the center of the action.”“And I had to move from place to place and I was honestly terrified because you didn’t want to do another take. Another take meant everything had to be reset and I just wanted to keep going and sometimes things wouldn’t break.

the band was robbed of a whole lotta cash: approximately $200,000. The stacks of hundred-dollar bills — along with everyone’s passports and a few credit cards — had been stored in a safe-deposit box behind the desk at the Drake Hotel on Park Avenue at 56th Street, where Led Zep was staying.Led Zeppelin was worn out and strung out on drugs, with cocaine and heroin being delivered to their hotel, but had to pull it together for these important MSG gigs, where footage was being shot for their 1976 concert film “The Song Remains the Same.” Richard Cole, the band’s then-tour manager, discovered the theft at 7:30 p.m.

“What’s Going On.”But for the late Motown legend, football was the answer to help lift him out of a deep depression after the 1970 death of Tammi Terrell — his frequent duet partner on hits such as  “Ain’t No Mountain High Enough”  — and into creating “What’s Going On,” his classic album that was released 50 years ago on May 21, 1971.“It was during a time when he was trying out for the Detroit Lions and being a football player,” said David Ritz, author of 1985’s “Divided Soul: The Life of Marvin Gaye,” the definitive biography of the singer. “He was a good athlete, and he had this notion of wondering if he could turn pro, but I’m not sure he had the chops.

It seems like Bill Withers has been in my ear my entire life.