12:00pm Saturday 24th July 2010
By Jim Greenhalf
Interviewing living legends can be a futile business. Nothing you ask in a short exchange is likely to correspond to the lived experiences that made them what they are.
Michael Parkinson found that out when he once asked George Best what was going through his mind when he scored a particularly brilliant goal against Fulham.
“I don’t know,” Best replied. Of course he didn’t: at the time he was too busy living the moment from the inside to step back and assess his feelings.
So the thought of asking Buddy Greco, over the phone, to talk about singing with Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin and Sammy Davis Junior, felt inappropriate – expecting a great performer to reduce the ineffable to the anecdotal.
Asking if any of these great performers had helped the budding Greco during his 66-year professional career wasn’t the way to go about it either, but he was polite about it.
He said: “I was doing this when they were doing that. We got together from time to time. But if I had depended on them, I wouldn’t know if it (his career) was due to them or to my talent.
“They were just very good friends and we admired each other and had an awful lot of fun. We worked hard and we played hard.”
At this point, I ought to add that apart from being an accomplished singer with a repertoire of jazz, swing, pop and blues, Buddy Greco is also a writer, arranger and pianist.
Sammy Davis left the following accolade: “Buddy Greco’s world is a swinging world. Whether he sings a great standard, whether its an instrumental with the trio or a big band, whether he is singing the music or writing the arrangement (for he is prolific in all three departments), the world of Buddy Greco is a very, very swinging world.”
In Frank Sinatra’s world, the word “swinging” meant several different things, including having a good time for the longest possible time. As a self-confessed manic depressive, he was driven in all aspects of his life. He expected his drinking buddies to play as hard as he did.
In the course of playing hard, Buddy got married four times, drank a lot and fooled around. That was expected in the 1950s and 1960s.
Dean Martin based his stage act on being a lush, when in fact he was usually the soberest of the Rat Pack. However, he didn’t always drink apple juice disguised as scotch.
“I was standing beside Dean when he was recording Houston, a big hit for him. I was drinking a little bit in those days. He said: ‘My God, do you realise you’re drinking more than me?’ It was a put on. Dean just wanted to be a cowboy.”
One of Frank Sinatra’s biographies describes how once, in a rage, he tried to throw a long-term employee out of his aircraft, which was flying at the time. Dean Martin intervened, and calmed Sinatra down.
“He was a tough guy. You didn’t mess with Dean Martin. We were all from poor backgrounds. You have to protect yourself,” Buddy said, by way of explaining why ‘ole blue eyes’ sometimes saw red.
Many years ago, while I was walking in one of the posh parts of London, to see how the other half lived, Sammy Davis Junior passed me on the pavement. He looked melancholy, somewhat troubled. I didn’t intrude.
“He had a terrible time,” Buddy said. “A black entertainer married to a white woman – he went through a lot of problems. But when he was on stage, there wasn’t anybody better.
“Even in the Sixties, I would be in the Sands Hotel inVegas, and he wouldn’t be allowed to walk in the front door. He had to go through the back door to fill a 1,200-seat theatre. But he went through with it.”
Most of the great American Songbook singers of that time are dead. Tony Bennett, at 84, continues. Jack Jones was in Bradford last year. Buddy Greco is here on Friday. Why does he go on doing it?
“I am in great shape. I love my work and I’ve been totally committed to this business. This is the best time of my life. I have been married to Lezlie (his fifth wife, singer Lezlie Anders) for 20 years.
“My doctor told me my blood pressure is good. He told me I am more like 63 than 83. Being married to a woman 23 years younger helps. Have you seen her picture?”
I have. She reminds me of Peggy Lee, which is appropriate because part of the Buddy/ Lezlie salute to that great artist – it’s called Fever – can be seen at St George’s Hall, along with David Alacey’s The Rat Pack Is Back tribute and the Flamingo Las Vegas Showgirls.
Buddy said: “My interest is to do a good show, be healthy and be honest with my audience. Here I am at 83, almost 84. A lot of older people come to see me, but it’s only a number. If you’re mentally and physically fit…”
What does he mean about being honest with his audience?
“I learned something Sinatra told me many years ago. When you go out there, always try to do something different, something for yourself. You just don’t go on automatic pilot.
“I have sung MacArthur Park and Tramp (The Lady Is A Tramp – Buddy Greco’s biggest hit) thousands of times. But every time I do, I try to find something new for me as well,” he added.
That’s the difference between an entertainer and a star performer. With the latter, there’s always a risk.
Buddy Greco’s Swinging Las Vegas show at St George’s Hall on Friday, July 30, starts at 7.30pm. Tickets are on (01274) 432000.
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