I was opening for singer Buddy
Greco at “Palumbo’s Supper Club” in Philadelphia, PA when a very recognizable
face came in one night at the 10:00 PM Late Show. To any young Philadelphia
nightclub entertainer (especially the 17 year old me) Joey Bishop and the other
members of Frank Sinatra’s Rat Pack were like Gods. We all wanted to be just
like them and wanted to achieve the same level of fame (as well as the same
level of paychecks).
Joey and his group were a
wonderful, attentive audience. They applauded my songs, laughed at my weak
patter and bad jokes and made my set a joy to perform. I introduced Buddy after
I was done and headed to the dressing room. Since it was a Friday night and I
didn’t have high school the next day, I decided to stay around and listen to
Buddy’s act over the speaker in the dressing room area. When he finished and
the patrons were leaving, I went back out to talk with him. We had developed
the habit of spending time together after the last show on Friday and Saturday where
Buddy would help me refine my act and teach me new songs.
Instead of Buddy sitting at the
piano alone waiting for me, Joey and his party were there with him talking. I
stopped, not wanting to intrude and, frankly, a bit awestruck (“Oh my God, it’s
Joey Bishop!”).
Joey turned around and saw me
standing there and said, “Hey, kid, come here”. I walked over and Joey put his
arm around my shoulder and said, “You’re pretty good, kid. Buddy says you’ve
been working together when he plays in Philly and you live here.” I stammered
out “Yes. I live in Tacony”. Joey’s manner was such that I stopped being
nervous quickly and soon we were talking like we had known each other for a
long time.
At that time Joey was part owner
of a Philadelphia club called “Joey’s Place”, run by his two sisters. He told
me that he was going to be performing there in two weeks and wondered if I
would be available to open for him. I somehow managed to say “Yes” and we
settled the business details right then. Buddy was beaming – he liked to
introduce me to other nightclub performers who might help my career along.
I finished my last high school
class that day and headed to “Joey’s Place”. The house band and I went over my
charts and rehearsed my songs. Then it was off to the kitchen and Joey’s
sisters fed me dinner. Joey came in around 7:00 PM and we went over what we
were going to do that evening. 8:00 PM rolled around and the early show’s
audience started to arrive. I went on at 8:30 PM, did my act, introduced Joey
and then headed off to the dressing room area. I repeated my act for the 10:00
PM late show audience, introduced Joey and headed to the subway and home to get
some sleep before my next day’s classes at high school.
The week went by quickly, almost a
blur. When I introduced Joey for the late show on Saturday, he whispered to me,
“Hang around. I want to talk with you after the show”. He said it in a casual
tone so I wasn’t terribly nervous that I might have done a bad job. The late
show audience left and Joey and I sat down at one of the tables. He
complimented me on how the week went and asked me what my future plans were. I
had recently been in a Broadway show that had flopped and I was just finding my
niche in nightclubs, so I told him that my goal was to advance from opening act
to headliner and to move on to the bigger clubs and Las Vegas. He said, “I think you can do it, Rich. You’ve
definitely got talent and you know how to relate to the audience. How about
working with me again in the future?”
I don’t remember how I got home
that night – I think I floated.
Joey and I did work together after
that and every engagement was a blast. Through Joey and Buddy I got to meet and
work with Sammy Davis, Jr., Dean Martin and many other big names of the late
1960’s.
Joey, indeed, was a Pal.
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