Al Downing (musician)

Al Downing (January 9, 1940 – July 4, 2005), later known as Big Al Downing, was an American entertainer, singer, songwriter, and pianist. He received the Billboard's New Artist of the Year and the Single of the Year Award in 1979. He was inducted into the Rockabilly Hall of Fame and was a frequent performer at the Grand Ole Opry. Downing was nominated as Best New Artist by the Academy of Country Music and appeared on Hee Haw, Nashville Now, and Dick Clark's American Bandstand television programs.

Biography

Early career

Downing began his career doing piano and vocals in Bobby Poe and The Poe Kats, who were an early backing band for country entertainer Wanda Jackson. His piano contributed to the single "Let’s Have A Party", which was released in 1960. The song reached #32 on the UK charts and made the Top 40 on the U.S. pop chart.

Downing reached the U.S. Hot 100 with "You’ll Never Miss the Water (Till the Well Runs Dry)", a duet with Little Esther Phillips. After the release of this single, he was signed by Warner Brothers. In 1974, Downing recorded the single, "I'll Be Holdin' On", which went to number one on the U.S. Disco charts for three weeks. In addition, "I'll Be Holding On" was a hit in Europe. On the other US charts, the single went to #31 on the soul chart and #85 on the Billboard Hot 100.

Big Al

Big Al may refer to:

People

In arts and entertainment

Allosaurus

Allosaurus (/ˌæləˈsɔːrəs/) is a genus of large theropod dinosaur that lived 155 to 150 million years ago during the late Jurassic period (Kimmeridgian to early Tithonian). The name "Allosaurus" means "different lizard". It is derived from the Greek ἄλλος/allos ("different, other") and σαῦρος/sauros ("lizard / generic reptile"). The first fossil remains that can definitely be ascribed to this genus were described in 1877 by paleontologist Othniel Charles Marsh, and it became known as Antrodemus. As one of the first well-known theropod dinosaurs, it has long attracted attention outside of paleontological circles. Indeed, it has been a top feature in several films and documentaries about prehistoric life.

Allosaurus was a large bipedal predator. Its skull was large and equipped with dozens of sharp, serrated teeth. It averaged 8.5 m (28 ft) in length, though fragmentary remains suggest it could have reached over 12 m (39 ft). Relative to the large and powerful hindlimbs, its three-fingered forelimbs were small, and the body was balanced by a long and heavily muscled tail. It is classified as an allosaurid, a type of carnosaurian theropod dinosaur. The genus has a complicated taxonomy, and includes an uncertain number of valid species, the best known of which is A. fragilis. The bulk of Allosaurus remains have come from North America's Morrison Formation, with material also known from Portugal and possibly Tanzania. It was known for over half of the 20th century as Antrodemus, but study of the copious remains from the Cleveland-Lloyd Dinosaur Quarry brought the name "Allosaurus" back to prominence, and established it as one of the best-known dinosaurs.

Big Al (play)

Big Al is an Off-Broadway play by Brian Goluboff that went up at the Arclight Theatre. It was originally a 1991 play that premiered at the Ensemble Studio Theatre's marathon, then 1992 at the American Jewish Theatre, and in 1993 it was a 24 minute film on Showtime. It then was a one-act play that premiered at Man In The Moon Theatre in London in 1996.

Plot

Scene One follows bipolar Leo, who is an obsessed fan of Al Pacino. His more mature friend Ricky and him are wannabe screenwriters. It also has them cooking up an elaborate plot that will appeal to Al. Leo obsession turns to insanity. Scene Two is several years later and Leo was released from the mental institution. It shows how the two friends' lives have taken turns, not necessarily unpredictable, but turns nonetheless. Scene Three is where Frank Rose Jr. enters, and is a nightmarish mirror of Leo's fantasy life. He is Mr. Pacino's bodyguard. Scene Four is the redemption, where friends and friends, and the optimism leaves you with the feeling something good is about to happen.

Al Downing

Al Downing may refer to:

Al Downing (baseball)

Alphonso Erwin "Al" Downing (born June 28, 1941) is a former Major League Baseball pitcher. He was an All Star in 1967 and the NL Comeback Player of the Year in 1971. Downing is also famous for surrendering Hank Aaron's record breaking 715th home run on April 8, 1974.

Early life

Downing was born in Trenton, New Jersey. He attended Trenton Central High School, Muhlenberg College in Allentown, Pennsylvania, and Rider College (now known as Rider University) in Lawrenceville, New Jersey.

New York Yankees

Downing signed with the New York Yankees as an amateur free agent in 1961, and was already on the major league roster by July of that season. In his first full major league season, 1963, Downing went 13-5 with a 2.56 earned run average for a Yankee team that went 104-57, but were swept by the Los Angeles Dodgers in the 1963 World Series. In 1964, he went 13-8 with a 3.47 earned run average, and led the league with 217 strikeouts.

Downing was 9-5 with a 2.66 ERA when he made his only All-Star team in 1967. He pitched two innings, giving up no earned runs while striking out two. On August 11, he struck out three batters (Tony Horton, Don Demeter and Duke Sims) on nine pitches in the second inning of a 5-3 win over the Cleveland Indians. Downing became the sixth American League pitcher and the 13th pitcher in Major League history to accomplish this feat.