Today's Blind Items - The Collection

Nearly a half-century ago, this singer was everywhere. His music was iconic and inescapable, and hard to place in a single genre. He was equally prolific in human rights and environmental campaigns, and his network ran deep and wide.

The singer had a personal photographer, who has a book coming out later this year and is now in ailing health. Recently he passed ownership of his entire collection of photography and memorabilia to his son, and only then was it properly examined and cataloged.

The collection is spectacular. It could fill the entire back of a pickup truck. It isn’t just photos from the singer’s gigs. It’s a look into his life that no one has seen. It’s the singer backstage, at home, and engaged in his many outdoor activities. His world travels. The photographer believed it was worthless, however, and stored it in cardboard boxes wherever he could. Original Kodachromes that graced the covers of Platinum-selling albums were casually tossed into piles. It took weeks to sort out.

What’s in the collection? The catalog list is practically a book on its own, but here is what sticks out:

#1. Hundreds of slides of the singer and this legendary scientist/sailor aboard his equally legendary ship.

#2. The singer guest hosting this long-running late night talk show, when it was hosted by the A+ legend.

#3. A lot of pictures with this A+ comedy legend who lived a very long time. They made a movie together.

#4. An entire crate of pictures from this annual celebrity sporting event the singer hosted.

#5. A number of photos of this former A++ lister whom the singer was close with

#6. The singer’s wedding to his second wife.

#7. Signed letters to the singer from, among others, the pint-sized actor, the legendary blue-eyed actor, the former President with a lot of initials, the very influential automobile CEO, and the sailor/scientist.

Oh, and there were also a few pictures of the singer naked. The singer asked the photographer to take those as part of a prank war he had going with this permanent A+ singing legend (#8). Those were removed from the collection and will never be seen.