ANITA O'DAY/ETHEL MERMAN/JUDY GARLAND/ROSIE CLOONEY

I met/worked with them in the following order: Rosie/Ethel/Judy/Anita - all (beginnings) taking place within 2 years.

I got a summer job in New York while I was at UCLA. I was there at a very young age due to being a 'special' student in an accelerated program in the Chicago Grammar school system. I skipped half of 1st, 3rd, 5th, 7th grades, which put me in high school (Senn) and college two full years ahead of the normal age I should have been there. I lived at the Beverly Hills Hotel my first semester at UCLA, but that's another (terrific) story.

I only wanted to write music - songs - like my uncle Jule Styne, my mother's brother. (Gypsy/Funny Girl/Gentlemen Prefer Blondes, etc.). But first, when I was 11 (we spent our winters - Jan. thru Easter in Palm Springs and part of our summers at The Beverly Hills Hotel. Being exposed to the Hollywood life, all I could think of was to go to college here and eventually become a song writer) I started arranging music.

I wrote musical arrangements/orchestrations/charts - they all mean the same thing. You write down on score paper (now on computer) every single note that every instrument in the orchestra plays: trumpets, violins, bass, drums, etc… Strangely lots of people don't know what it means - my mother still doesn't - but when one shows someone (even a layman) a printed score - with the names of the instruments on it and the notes printed after the name of each instrument THEY GET IT!

I got the job in NY because of personal reasons. I knew the star of the Ford Star Revue and he was a summer replacement on NBC for 8 weeks. The writing staff was Neil Simon, his brother Danny Simon (team), Norman Lear, Ed Simmons (team) and Harvey Orkin. Harvey whom you've probably never heard of, was the funniest one of them all. It was Harvey's job to punch them up. All of them, that was his gig and he was a riot. By the 3rd day, you wouldn't recognize the sketches for the 1st day. I didn't realize how this would help me in later life when I became a producer and director.

With Marilyn Taylor, June Taylor's sister, also on the show. Wow, did I faint every day when I looked at her! She was my ideal girl... blonde, blue-eyed WASP. How the hell could she have married a total alcoholic - Jackie Gleason? I guess money rules!

We had the most fabulous 2nd bananas - Carl Reiner, Louie Nye, Jack Cassidy, David Burns and Bob Fosse. Yes, f***ing unbelievable. I did Jack Haley's and Bob Fosse's musical arrangements (as he also danced on the show) as well as the girl singer Mindy Carson's musical arrangements. I didn't conduct at that time, so when the show went on, since I had nothing to do, I held the cue cards (especially) for Jack Haley's songs along with the real cue card people. David Burns was the funniest of the 2nd bananas on the show, and filthy. He even made Carl Reiner and Louis Nye blanch. But not Jack Cassidy nor myself. I loved it, he made me scream. I visited him back stage of Cole Porter's "Out of This World" and just before he sang "Cherry Pies Oughta Be You" with Charlotte Greenwood, they had a scene, and in the scene he would go behind a wet bar to make a drink for her. Behind the bar, during the dialogue, he actually whipped his penis out. The gay boy dancers and myself were screaming with laughter and he'd 'put it back in' just in time to walk out from behind the bar to continue the number.

He died on stage in '70 Girls 70' in the middle of Kander & Ebb's "Grandmother' number. David's tour de force! I loved that dirty old man.

It was there I first met Bob Fosse and we were quite good friends. We later worked together in the "Pajama Game" film when I was hired to do lots of the dance and vocal orchestrations as well as composing the score for the film, based on Dick Adler & Jerry Ross's song material.

Years later when I was directing a show in Paris, my A.D. whom I had worked with on the show for 4 weeks prior, looked familiar to me, and me to him, but we couldn't figure it out. But when I bent down to direct a very important moment, and he was behind me taking notes, he figured it out. "You're the cue card kid! I was Camera #1 at NBC on the Ford Show. And you were always in my way, in fact once during the show I ran into you." He was right. He didn't even realize that I had also done some of the music for the show.

I was so green at that time, Carl Hoff (the orchestra leader at NBC NY) had to vet (look over) my arrangements before they were copied, circled places, showing me where I could do better or whatever, even changing some bass notes at the end of a chart where, instead of the required tonic note (C in the key of C, Eb in the key of Eb, etc.) I placed the third (E in the key of C, G in the key of Eb, etc.). I guess UCLA didn't have that fine of a music dept!

During that summer I went to many gatherings. One of them was at the Hampshire House at Rosemary Clooney's apartment. I was invited by Ruth Cosgrove, her PR lady, Milton Berle's wife (Ruth Berle). A wild woman with a mouth like a truck driver. I met Milton there as well. That started a life-long friendship, plus I worked for him doing music for his Vegas act.

There I met Rosie and Betty Clooney, they did not look like sisters. Betty had dark hair and looked very Irish, while Rosie was blonde and looked Italian. "Come On a My House" had just come out, was a hit, and the producer of the record, Mitch Miller was also there. Don't ask me how I ended up there, but I lived next door at The Navarro, and I seem to remember that Jack Haley and Milton Berle were old mates from Vaudeville. Milton always used to say, "I stole from everyone, but I never stole from Jack… he wasn't funny!"

I think Ruth threw the bash to celebrate the record, it was her apt. and Rosie crashed there until she got her own place. Something like that.

The second I saw this incredibly THIN, sexy, well-endowed Rosemary Clooney, got flush, and, my very dormant libido went wild!

I used to be shy. I'm totally the opposite now, but then, a well-to-do kid from Chicago, with manners, etc…

It would take me many many many dates with a girl, to finally even ask them if they would want to have some sort of relationship. And since I was a tennis player who didn't drink or smoke or do drugs, I would NEVER be around girls who did, so that cut out a lot of possibilities as well.

I can not tell you how my brain went wild trying to figure out how I could see her. As I remember, Ruth was helpful in telling what a nice boy I was.

What a wild crush. When I saw her on occasion after that, she was very polite, very sweet (it was always in a group situation as they had people over every night) but didn't really want to pursue anything with this teenager. She was older and I was in a maelstrom I couldn't really get out of, so that also probably stood in our way.

It was much later that she and I became friendly once again, but this time she was married to Joe Ferrer, and it was he I befriended. We became tennis buddies. I was invited over to their tennis court on Roxbury Drive at least thre times a week to play, and have a buffet afterwards. Rosie was very warm and very friendly to me.

Ethel Merman came into my life right after the above. Just before my recording career.

My uncle Jule Styne was producing "Anything Goes" for NBC TV with Ethel Merman and Frank Sinatra (during his down period) and hired me to be one of the arrangers for the show.

I was Ethel's personal arranger and every time she sang, I wrote the orchestration. "Blow Gabriel Blow", "Anything Goes", etc… and even on a duet like "You're The Top" with Frank, I had to do the chart.

It was a great relationship. Ethel liked me and confided in me about my uncle, whom she had a mad crush on for years, but he wouldn't give her a tumble. I believe they had a 'thing' when he was her vocal coach at Fox, but I can't prove it. Ethel was always pissed off about his having a relationship with Sandra Church - Gypsy in "GYPSY". I had to constantly remind her that it was SHE who said to Jule, "Why don'cha hire that kid, even though she can't sing, she's right for the part."

Jule flipped over Sandra and they got engaged. Ethel was never the same where he was concerned.

But she liked me and I was also put under contract to her for the Shower of Stars shows at CBS she did. Then I was hired by uncle Jule to do all the orchestrations for "Panama Hattie", another Broadway show which he was going to produce for CBS TV. This was a 2 year (not steady) gig that always came up at the right time and could be fit in with my other work which was starting to get very heavy. Vegas acts for big stars, recordings, TV series, film composing, etc.

It was in NY we got very close. Bob Six was there during the whole rehearsal period, and for the show, of course. I went to lunch with them every day, dinner with them a few times a week. They kind of adopted me, which was very sweet. Ethel would say, "How's the c***? Your about-to-be aunt!" She was very funny. She put down everybody, that's where I learned it.

I remember six violin players walking over to our table at The Ritz Restaurant (?) to serenade the two lovers - them kissing - and me sitting there watching being the 3rd wheel. It was funny seeing Ethel romantic as she was so brassy. Which I loved.

I was probably the only young straight guy she liked and dished with. All the other 'dishers' were gay.

Then, a few years later, I produced and directed 'An Evening With Ethel Merman' for my first show at the BBC. It was great. She had hired me as her arranger and now I hired her!

My friend Geoffrey Mark Fidelman who wrote the Ella bio a few years ago, recently interviewed me for his new book on Ethel. I know it's nowhere near finished and his Lucy bio has to be finished first. Probably 1-2 years away. Geoffrey gave me videos of "Anything Goes" and "An Evening With Ethel Merman" as a gift for the interviews.

During lunch at the BBC Club one day during rehearsal for the show, my wife Suzanne asked Ethel about the Ernest Borgnine fiasco. "I don't know honey, the only thing I do know he was great in the hay, and he had c--k (she raises her hands wide apart) this big!

This place went wild. It seems at that very moment, like it was planned, everyone's conversation waned, and Ethel got louder, and hit a home run with the line. All the eaters laughed so hard they could hardly carry on with their lunch or drinks. What a classic moment!

She passed on after that and we never stayed in touch. I missed her and still do. I talk about her all the time. The best times were having coffee with her off the wagon at CBS, the both of us there at 8AM, one hour before time. I've always been like that and so was she. Her professionalism was beyond professional. In a category of its own. Two weeks of coffee klatches with Ethel Merman every few months, writing 3 or 4 new orchestrations for her over a 2-year period was unbelievably gratifying.

Judy Garland was introduced to me by Bobby Van who was preparing an act for the two of them. He was her 2nd banana. A great dancer/singer/performer. I had done his act. I was at The Coconut Grove to see Eydie Gorme on her opening night. I had done the charts for her act as well and Bobby and Judy were there. He introduced me to her. I went to my table. He said to Judy we should get Buddy to do our act. She said she hated my work. Eydie finished her show to a standing ovation. Bobby turns to Judy and asks how she liked the act. She loved it. He said, "Buddy did it!" She said, "Hire him!"

That's Judy.

I had such a crush on Eydie's singing. She always knew what she was singing about, understood that it was a scene with music, unlike Anita and Rosie, who just sing the music, and oh, yes, the words?!

But Judy - was Judy - and she understood everything, and working with her was a nightmare. Yes, I was thrilled to work with Judy Garland. And yes, I hated every minute of it. You never knew what was going to happen. I like to get up early and get to work on whatever I'm doing, which means I need to get to bed at a reasonable hour.

With Judy we'd start at 8PM! PM! And go until……… she never went to sleep until - I guess - the sun came up. There is so much to tell you about those 6 months, which to this day I have never been paid for.

It's funny, Liza paid everyone who worked for her mom and didn't get paid. Everyone but me, and I'm someone she knows independently of her mom! What a business.

Judy was to reopen Ben Maksik's Club in Brooklyn. What a great place. The Jets and Giants could play football inside of it. It's like the Meadowland with a roof. He had gone under and booking Judy to redo her success at The Palace would bring her back (for the 21st time) and him!

He even got her a home on Sheep's Head Bay to reside in while she was there for the 4 weeks. She would get the covers, he would make money on the food and drinks, etc… Two shows a night. Judy would be a millionaire once again, and so would he.

Six months of rehearsal - 15-20 new orchestrations. Stuff she had never sung before. "I Got It Bad". Oh, it was great. She and Bobby did some new stuff Roger Edens and I think Buddy Pepper wrote. I wrote stuff and in essence, I produced the act, also played rehearsal piano with her every night.

She had a black and white marble-squared front hallway, like glass. She had two human trees outside the door; "Guys you don't wanna fuck with." The piano was two steps down at the edge of the living room. It was like if you faced the living room from the hallway you were on a checkered stage and the audience was in the living room.

So Judy would sing on the piano bench next to me, behind me with her hands always on my shoulders, standing in the hallway singing to Bobby Van, an audience of one. This was a show one could put together in six weeks because we also had to use the old chestnuts. Stuff that she had been doing for years, which I didn't have to do anything to.

One night there was a knock at the door, Judy sung her way to it, opened it (as don't forget the 'trees' were there so no one bad could have knocked). "Keep playing, honey." She keeps on singing, opens the door, and the next thing I hear is a WHAP! I turn my head to see Judy Garland on her butt, facing the front door in a sitting position, sliding backwards on the black and white-checkered glass-like marble floor.

I'll never forget that image. What happened. Sid Luft came to the door, estranged at the time, but obviously soft-soaped the 'trees', Judy opens the door and Sid says, "You bitch," punches her square on the jaw, and she ends up on her ass sliding backwards across the 'stage.'

The night she finds me at The Grove working with Eydie on some new material, insists I leave and come get her as she has a migraine and needs air. I get her in the car, and she says, "Drive down Sunset, but don't do the curves, drive in the middle on the double yellow line, the curves make me sick. Turn down here on Roxbury Drive, I want to go to Ira Gershwin's house. We pull up. She runs out and pounds on their door.

Ira opens it. Mrs. Gershwin is behind him. Judy runs into the house and throws herself on a most beautiful couch in the living room. "I'm sick, I'm sick, I'm going to throw up, I'm going to die" etc.

Ira beckons me into the lounge/pool room and asks if I'd like to play. So we did. 10 minutes later we hear a scream. Judy has thrown up all over the beautiful couch in the living room. Ugh.

I take her home, she calls the 'infamous' doc, he comes over and berqates me for calling him. He gives her the 'infamous' injection, he walks back down the curved staircase, cursing under his breath, he leaves, and I hear "come in, honey. Here, sit on the bed. Did I ever tell you about?………and she tells me stories about her as a kid, MGM, her sisters, etc… under the sun begins to peek through, and then she says, "Night honey, I'm going to sleep, see you later."

We try the act out at a political fund raiser with lots of Hollywood stars. It goes over great. Wow. We're in.

We try it at a benefit for Sammy Davis's Hospital where they saved his life but he lost an eye. I had done his act as well. So he opens for Judy. Danny Thomas comes out, tells a few jokes and intros Judy. I'm conducting a big Hollywood orchestra. The stage is as the Knicks court at The Garden. You could put an ice show on it. The audience is somewhere between 8-10,000.

When Judy is Down Stage at the mike she's miles from me conducting the orchestra. Halfway through the opening number, "When You're Smiling", I feel someone's back at my back - it's her. Since there are lots of open beats in the song, she turns her head away from the mike and talks to me. "I hate this place… it's too big… I don't feel well… cut everything else and go to Rainbow"…etc… All I did was say no and continued conducting. "You fucker, I told you to…etc." For 40 minutes this went on, until we got to Rainbow. And although she was totally in a snit, she even moved me with it. Remember, we never rehearsed it, didn't need to, so I really heard it. she was fantastic. But what a mess.

We go to New York, we rehearse - 35 piece orchestra at Ben Maksic's. He's all over me, William Morris is all over me, everybody's thrilled, we're all gonna make it. I hired Buster Davis to conduct, John Morris to play the piano, I had to be in Vegas after opening for the new show at The Sands, so I would leave after first show, knowing all is well and go to my next job.

I did all the orchestrations for the big numbers at 5 hotels in Vegas - Sahara, New Frontier, Sands, Flamingo and Tropicana. So I would have to be in Vegas at least once every two months.

The first show was fab!!!!!!!!! I went back to the dressing room, hugged and kissed. She was vibrant. She undressed, put on a smock, laid down on the cot, I lowered the lights, gave a sweet friendly kiss, and said how happy I was and how much I admired her. I also reminded her that we had guards outside so that Sid couldn't get near her, and none of his calls would be put through. 'Baby, you're a hit!" She smiled and closed her eyes.

I got into a limo, went to The Essex House, packed, got a few hours, took the limo back to Kennedy, got on the earliest plane, got off at McCarren in Vegas, walked tall through the airport, and was stopped by a headline at the 1st newsstand - JUDY QUITS! - with a picture of Judy and Sid leaving the club.

Needless to say, Ben Maksic died of a heart attack soon after and Judy and Sid broke up soon after. What craziness.

I told this story to Gene Barry and his wife at my daughter Tracey's birthday party in London. Continued it on the way to Dirk Bogard's party for Judy. Finished it as we strolled up the walkway to his home in Knightsbridge. Knocked on the door. Judy opens it. I said, "Hi, Judy, how are you!?" "Oh, hi …uh… uh…" "Buddy, Buddy Bregman." "Oh, yes, Buddy."

Like she had never seen me in her life. I rest my case.

I bumped into Sid on Regent Street a few years later, and he invited me to see Lorna's opening at Talk of the Town. I would be Lauren Bacall's 'date.' He was very friendly. Lorna was great. All I could think of was "A Star is Born". What prompted him to torpedo his wife's career - and his meal ticket?

VERVE RECORDS/NORMAN GRANZ

After I left UCLA because I had the hit rock and roll record 'I Need Your Lovin' by Lieber & Stoller with the Cheers on Capitol. The Cheers were kids from UCLA . One of the fathers paid for the session and three weeks later we made the charts - and my career took off.

Norman Granz heard the record on his way to Joe and Rosie's house to play tennis with Pancho Segura, Joe and me. Remember, ever since I was 8 years old I knew who Norman Granz was because my parents took my brother and I to see Jazz at the Philharmonic at The Chicago Opera House. Ella, Dizzy, Stan Lester Young, etc…

He tells me he just heard a record of mine on the radio and liked it. He was starting a new pop record company the next day. Would I like to work for him? I said yes and at that moment became the A&R head of Verve Records and a deal to arrange and conduct any sessions I wanted to.

So when I came in I asked him what artists he had. He said none, Only the ones on Clef and Norgran. I told him since they were all jazz artists how could I do any pop records with them. He said I had to do something until we signed some people which would take about 3-6 months and he had promised the distributors some new recordings by the next month. Mo Ostin was the accountant for the label and he would keep tabs on expenses.

So I went over the jazz artists on the jazz labels he had and I found no one who was pure enough to do pop, so I looked for crossovers - obviously vocalists, and I saw Joe Williams name with Count Basie. I thought well, I'll get some stuff written for him and a lady who had gone to my high school and had an infamous reputation, Anita O'Day.

Norman said she never sold over 3,000 albums in her life. If you do better than that, it's a miracle. ANITA is way over 600,000 units as I type this. I did 385,000 in the first six months.

I hated her singing. But I went to see her at a club on Hollywood Blvd. near Western, and she did a whole set with her back to the audience. I thought wow, that is so weird. I never even thought it had anything to do with drugs - heroin, cocaine. I didn't even know those words.

I met her and her drummer friend John Poole. She tried to be smiley, and I came up with my usual, brash, smart-alecky repartee, which I thought was pretty funny and I just got stares. She invited me to their hovel in Long Beach - San Pedro? I thought we should do a jazz album then follow it with some pop singles, but with that voice, pop?

Her piano keys have no white ivory on them and when we rehearsed "Honeysuckle Rose", she asked if I could play more in the cracks. That stopped me. So I actually moved my fingers a little to the left and she nodded like "That's what I meant." Too weird for me. I told my mom when I got home what she had said, and mother said, "Oh, those jazz people, they're all crazy." Mother was right.

It was there that I learned NEVER to rehearse with Anita. Figure out the songs, the keys, go over them once, make a cassette for her to rehearse by, and have NO INTERACTION until the session.

Remember Ella wasn't with us for another six months. I would not use John Poole on drums and she was mad about that but as young as I was, I knew what I was doing and not to fuck me, with authority. She was not in a position to. Of course she's pretty strong herself.

The album was such a hit that Norman said to do another one. "PICK YOUR-SELF UP", with the famous arrangement of mine on "SWEET GEORGIA BROWN". Also done in the film "Jazz on a Summer's Day".

In between I did a singles session with her. I think the 1st release was "The Getaway" and "The Chase". It did okay but not as well as the albums. I think "PICK YOURSELF UP" went about 200,000 units. So that sure beats 3,000.

In the middle of one of the takes, she walks over to me and whispers in my ear, "Fire the drummer!" A true nut case.

When they got the deal with Pablo, they called me because as she said, no matter what arrangers we have ever used before and after you, none of them understood how to make a hit album with Anita only you.

Working with her all those years later was a nightmare. I'm now a producer-director-writer and she's a lush. No drugs, but lots of liquor. First thing she does when we get toegether is turn to my girl-friend Marie de Puthod, a Hollywood screenwriter/director, and says, "Oh, Girlie, go out and buy me some Chivas," and hands her a $20 bill. She sends Marie out to buy her liquor, not Alan Eichler, her manager, but my friend, who is a Comptess, born and raised in Paris, her family name 'de Puthod' etched on the Arc de Triumph, one of the 1st families of France, to shlep her booze!

Anyhow, I picked all the songs, as I did not want to do old jazz chestnuts, only newer stuff; Sondheim, Carly, Cy Coleman, etc. It took her 'years' to learn it. I had to hire a guy in Hemet to woodshed the material with her.

Strangely enough, I guess I should always lay off writing charts for 20 years, I DID MY BEST WORK EVER AS ARRANGER ON THE ALBUM. AND SHE DID HER WORST. Never in tune, always in La La Land.

I was even offered to option her book to make a movie out of it. I turned it down. I just can't be around her she's so unprofessional, always drunk, so I turned it down. It also has wrong info about me in it. They didn't even have the courtesy to interview me, so naturally I'm biased and pissed off about it.

I only took the "RULES OF THE ROAD" album gig for selfish reasons. Because I was so young when I recorded for Verve, I felt I could have done better. Well, I did and the charts are fantastic. I'm even surprised at how good they are.

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