Louis Gottlieb

Dr. Louis Gottlieb (1924 – July 11, 1996) was bassist and lofty comic spokesman for The Limeliters. He was considered one of the so-called "new comedy" performers such as Mort Sahl, Nichols and May, and Lenny Bruce: a new generation of unabashed intellectuals.

Lou's special trademark on stage was a delightful burlesquing of the university pedant, the sort of teacher who knocks himself out over the jokes in Chaucer while his restless and puzzled class has nothing on its collective mind that happened earlier than last night's date. "Many of the things I have been enthusiastic about," agreed Gottlieb, "mean absolutely nothing to most people."

An original member of the Gateway Singers, as well as arranger for the Kingston Trio, Gottlieb left this group at the peak of its popularity to return to academic life. In 1958 he became Dr. Louis Gottlieb with a Ph.D. in Musicology. His dissertation was an edition of 21 hitherto unpublished cyclic masses of the 15th century. "Fascinating," he said, "but hardly the stuff to support Dolly (Mrs. Gottlieb) and the two children." He returned to show business as a single comic because "I'm a performer and if I go three weeks without performing, I get sick." Vaguely dissatisfied as a single, Gottlieb realized he needed a string bass as an onstage prop and the right group to sing with. When he met Alex Hassilev and Glenn Yarbrough for the first time in May 1959, Lou immediately knew this was it.

The Limeliters

In July, 1959, The Limeliters appeared as a trio for the first time at the "hungry i" in San Francisco, with Lou as "the comic-arranger- musicologist, Glenn the golden-voiced tenor and guitarist, and Alex the instrumental virtuoso" (to quote from one of their song collections, "Cheek In Our Tongue"). San Francisco music critic John Wasserman said the Limeliters "attained a stature equalled perhaps only by the Kingston Trio and the Weavers." The group's biggest hit was "A Dollar Down" in 1961, but was well known for its 15 records albums and its concerts during the 1960s. A near-fatal plane crash in Colorado in December, 1962, and the strain of a life constantly on the road caused Lou to retire from the trio. [edit: this was actually Glenn Yarbrough who quit the Limeliters after the plane incident in 1962]

After a brief stint reviewing concerts for the "San Francisco Chronicle," he moved to Morning Star Ranch , his 30-acre ranch in Sonoma County, in 1966. Folk singer Malvina Reynolds and her husband Bud had alerted him to the property ("I also saw an ad in the KPFA folio," he said. "I walked the place over and said, 'Where do I sign?'") Many people will remember fondly "The Digger Farm," as it came to be called, and the impact Lou had as the "resident piano player," as he referred to himself. Gottlieb attempted to leave the land he owned to God. A series of court appeals culminated in the 9th district court ruling that he could not. The ruling centered around the fact that if God was named owner on a quit claim deed, there would be no recourse for the collection of property taxes. The finding, therefore, was that God has no property rights in the state of California.

During the seventies, in response to an ever-greater demand from their many fans, The Limeliters embarked on a series of yearly reunion tours with Glenn Yarbrough. These were so successful that, in 1981, Lou and Alex decided to get back into the mainstream of entertainment. It was then they introduced an outstanding new tenor, Red Grammer, and a fabulous come-back began.

Jazz: a Quarterly of American Music Magazine

An editor and contributor to "Jazz: a Quarterly of American Music", his knowledge of music was all-embracing and encyclopedic. To illuminate a learned article on the late Lester Young, he musically notated about twenty different recorded solos by the great tenor saxist, commenting in typical Gottlieb "on stage" fashion: "I will never forget the first time I heard Example 5 in a record store in Washington, D. C."

The other consuming passion in the world of Dr. Gottlieb was show business in all its divergent aspects, with particular emphasis on comics and audience reactions, which he finds endlessly fascinating. He was a voracious reader of great novels and political and economic theory, while the realm of Bach and Schonberg were as familiar to him as the decor of the hungry i. Far from idle or disembodied pedantry, Gottlieb's intellectual accomplishments had an exciting vitality, evident not only in the on stage performance of The Limeliters, but also in his offstage conversations which had an intoxicating effect on all within hearing range.

"Education," wrote Gottlieb in his syndicated column for college newspapers, "is the greatest entertainment - even though, God knows, all education is not entertaining." While acclaim and fortune is fine for a performer, it may taint the reputation of a scholar. Some of his academic associates told Gottlieb, "Lou, you are 37. For God's sake get into a real line of work." Gottlieb replied, as always, that he was a performer. More than that, he liked to sing.

Gottlieb, tall and slender despite age and a graying beard, used to say, elicting wild cheers from the audience, "Glenn and Alex are not geared for total approval any more, but I jolly well am!"

Gottlieb was immortalized in the science fiction novel "Summer of Love" by Lisa Mason. In the 1960s, Gottlieb had a house and ranch in rural Sonoma County called "Morningstar," where a lot of groupies would come to stay. Many people will remember fondly "The Digger Farm," as it came to be called, and the impact Gottlieb had as the "resident piano player," as he referred to himself. A humorous reference is made to this "Morningstar groupie rest home" in The Limeliters' song, "Acres of Limeliters" on their album, "Joy Across the Land".

Morningstar was a serious attempt at communal living. However, the young people who were attracted to the project were unskilled in the arts required for a self-sustaining community. In August of 1967, roughly 30 people lived on the property. Gottlieb was known in real estate circles for having quit claimed this land to God. Future sales by such an owner would be difficult to prove, if contested in court.

Gottlieb sometimes led discussions about finding enlightenment, in the Zen sense, around a campfire during the evenings.

There were two houses on the land. One on a hill, and the other at the foot of the hill. Gradually, the residents tore down the house on the hill for fire wood. No one cleaned the lower house. Some people began to tear it up, too. By the end of September, 1967, County officials closed down the property for health code violations.

Movie roles

Gottlieb performed in the 1968 movie "I Love You, Alice B. Toklas" with Peter Sellers, and in "Blume in Love" with George Segal in 1973. He grew up in La Crescenta, completed his B.A. at UCLA, performed as jazz pianist, then sang with "The Gateway Singers," whom he left to take a Ph.D. in music at U.C. Berkeley in 1958.

His doctoral thesis on 15th century cyclic masses was completed when he heard Hassilev and Yarbrough sing together at Hollywood's Cosmo Alley nightclub. He joined the group, which named themselves after the Limelite Club in Aspen, Colorado.

World Folk Music Association Lifetime Achievement Award

In 1995, Gottlieb received the World Folk Music Association Lifetime Achievement Award.

Alex Hassilev said of Gottlieb, "We were business partners and debating opponents for 37 years. Never once in all that time did Lou Gottlieb fail to entertain me, on stage or off. And as witty and full of life as he was when he was performing, he was 1000 times funnier off stage. He was so unique an individual as I have ever known - a constant delight. But more than that he was my dear friend... and I miss him."

Glenn Yarbrough: "Lou was my partner, teacher, and friend - the brains of The Limeliters. His brilliance, spirit, and humor, are irreplaceable. He was the best arranger I've ever heard. More than any of us, Lou was responsible for crafting that unmistakable Limeliters' sound. But he was so much more than an amazing musician. He was an amazing person. I will miss his presence more than I could ever express in words."

Death

Gottlieb died after a short illness on Thursday July 11, 1996, at 11:42 a.m. at Palm Drive hospital in Sebastopol, California, at the age of 72. Along with tenor Glenn Yarbrough and bass Alex Hassilev, Lou toured the States entertaining 'folk' enthusiasts with such hits as "Have Some Madeira, My Dear," "Gari-Gari," and "There's A Meetin' Here Tonight."

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