Gilbert Gottfried's Amazing Colossal Podcast - Jack Jones

Episode Date: March 7, 2022

Grammy-winning singer and recording artist Jack Jones joins Gilbert and Frank for a captivating conversation about headlining in the heyday of Vegas, touring Vietnam with Bob Hope, recording the theme from "The Love Boat" and working alongside his dad, matinee idol (and Marx Brothers co-star) Allan Jones. Also: Frank Sinatra plays Charades, Cesar Romero plays matchmaker, Gilbert shares his admiration for Fritz Feld and Jack shares the screen with Judy Garland, George Jessel, Jack Benny and Phil Silvers. PLUS: "Wives and Lovers"! "Playboy After Dark"! The comedy of Joe E. Lewis! The "charisma" of Ed Sullivan! And Jack reflects on his friendships with Tony Bennett, Steve Lawrence and Don Rickles! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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the single malt whiskey that started it all for a balanced flavor and smooth finish. Just sit back and listen to the music. This single malt scotch whiskey is guaranteed to impress dad. This father's day, the Glenliv. Live original. Please enjoy our products responsibly. Hi, this is Gilbert Gottfried, and this is Gilbert Gottfried's Amazing Colossal Podcast with my co-host, Frank Santopadre.

Our guest this week is a singer, actor, record producer, and Grammy-winning recording artist who's recorded over 60 studio albums, played to sold-out venues all over the world, and has conquered all forms of popular music, including swing, big band, pop, jazz, and the great American songbook. He's recorded songs by the greatest composers and lyricists of old time, including Sammy Kahn, Cole Porter, The Gershwins, Michelle Legrand, and Alan and Marilyn Bergman. He's earned two Grammys for Best Male Vocal Performance with the singles Lollipops and Roses and Bacharach and David's Wives and Lovers. In a career that started when he was still a teenager, he's gone on to accomplish just about everything an artist can do in show business, appearing in TV series and motion pictures, hosting his own internationally syndicated variety show, performing at Carnegie Hall, the Kennedy Center, and the White House,

recording popular theme songs for film and television, including, of course, the theme to The Love Boat. And working alongside legends and icons like Dean Martin, Judy Garland, Sammy Davis Jr., Jack Benny, Bob Hope, Jackie Gleason, just to name a few. Frank Sinatra himself said, Jack is one of the major singers of our time. Mel Torme called him the greatest pure singer in the world, and the New York Times called him arguably the most technically accomplished male pop singer. His newest album is Every Other Day I Had the Blues, co-produced by the legendary Tom Scott and featuring a 50-piece orchestra. Frank and I are pleased to welcome to the show a performer who'll celebrate his 65th year in show business next year, and a man who also does one of the best Tony Bennett impressions in the biz, as well

as a Walter Brennan, apparently, The legendary Jack Jones. That's more than everyone wanted to know about myself. Hi, Jack. That's great. Thank you. Welcome. Thank you. By the way, the Walter Brennan comes from, I saw a clip of you, we were talking about doing deep research dives,

I saw a clip of you on an old What's My Line from 1967 or so. Yeah. You were the mystery guest, and you were faking out the panelists by doing a dead-on Walter Brennan impression. Do you have any memory of this? Yes, I do, and I have the clip at home. It's quite funny to see it. It's a perfectly serviceable Walter Brennan. But I can't do the Walter Brennan impression because it's just off. It's a little off. But we're not on national television. No, no, this doesn't count. No. I mean, you can get off on the...

Get a little off on the show, but I don't know. I haven't seen it, so I better shut up. And now, one thing, jumping back and forth like we do on this show. We do. Before our listeners come to the studio with burning torches and pitchforks, come to the studio with Burning Torches and Pitchforks. Please mention your father and just some of what he's done. Well, he starred in the original Showboat in the movies.

We'll go back to that now and so start go from there and um and he did a lot of wonderful comedy movies i can't name them all but then the one that really made him famous was when um mgm wanted to change it up a little bit after the jeanette mcette McDonald had done so many movies with Nelson Eddie so my dad was under contract they said let's bring Jones in and and do a movie with him and it was called Firefly and the donkey serenade was in that movie and yep that really made him famous and he recorded that the night that I was born that's interesting too wow and this of course was the great alan jones right who who worked with the mox brothers and abed and costello yes yeah yes well i mean costello that's an interesting story they were universal and they and my dad and uh you know

it was his movie and they they called him i said said, we got a couple of comics we want to try out and give him a shot in the movie. And they wrote a couple of things. And they cut to him and to them in the movie. And if you buy the movie now, when I went to buy the movie myself, they had top billing because they became such big stars. One night in the tropics. Yeah. They just took that away from them, you know, but not on purpose. Did you ever meet Abbott and Costello or the Marx Brothers?

I met Costello. I used to see him quite a bit at one time. But Abbott I didn't meet. But they just were wonderful. And my dad did a whole guest shot on their show. And they had a network show. And I have that clip. I just find every clip that never was made.

I have a record of you being on, I was telling Gilbert, Jack, I have a record of you being on a Steve Allen show in the, in the fifties, 58, which I think would have been the year before Lou passed with Costello. Do I have,

do I have that right? Yes, I think so. Yeah. Yeah. How about that? And I went on that, I went on that show because, uh because I recorded a Steve Allen song.

I was unknown, totally. And he wrote a song, and he wanted somebody to hear it. And so he asked me to come and be on the show. The song, ironically, was called What's the Use? But we did it, and I had a wonderful time with him and he, we became friends after that. Talk a little bit too. You were telling me on the phone, Jack, and we'll go, we'll go all over the place, but just to cover a little bit about your pop too, that, that,

and in those days he made the two films for MGM effectively replacing Zeppo in a night at the opera and a day at the races. And he's in in what I was saying to Gilbert is arguably the most famous comedy scene in the history of cinema, which is the stateroom scene. Oh, yeah. In A Night at the Opera. But you told me he went on tour with them, too. Well, they – my father told me that they rehearsed all, all the movies on the road and, uh, and then, you know, with exceptions and then they came in and filmed it. And, um,

I don't think they had Margaret Dumont on the movie on the road, but, uh, probably not. Or Sig Roman. But I love the line. Forgot the line that he said to her. Oh, he got the check. And he got the check. He was having dinner with Marco Dumont.

He grabbed the check and he looked at it and said, if I were you, I wouldn't pay this. Yeah, that's it. That's it. Did your dad, your dad ever regale you with stories about the boys? I know you later became friends with Bill Marks that we had on this show, Harpo's son. Yeah. Uh, but he didn't tell me too many stories. No. Uh, but, uh, yeah, Bill and I became friends in the desert and worked together. I did a whole, at the McCollum's I did a tribute to him towards the end of the show. And I showed the whole clip in the state room. And I said, here are

our fathers who are in heaven. That's sweet. And you worked with him. I mean, when you were a teenager, Gilbert was referencing it in the intro. You were on stage with your dad, and I'm trying to get the chronology right. At the Thunderbird Hotel, you were 18, 19? I was 19. 19. And my dad asked me if I wanted to come and do a thing on stage with him

and see if I, because he knew I wanted to be a singer. I said, well, this will be a chance to see if you like doing that, you know, in the relative big time. And I said, sure. And I used to vocalize all day long. And when I got on stage, I had no voice. Wow. day long. And when I got on stage, I had no voice. Wow.

But I was, I was, I was, you know, that's, that's all I wanted to do was sing. What was he acting like you and your dad together? Well, he would bring me on and introduce me as, um, his father's grandson. I like that. And then, um, I would sing a song with him, and then he'd say, go ahead and do a solo, and I would do whatever. And while I was singing, he'd sit on the side of the stage and read a paper. He had a lot of fun. and you you once made an appearance on well i'm sure a few times on ed sullivan and ed sullivan was known for like just he had a lot of talent and charm and personality

on the show but he was no part of that. All the other guests. What are you saying? You saying Ed Sullivan had no talent, Gilbert? Yeah. He was like, he, he had an eye for talent, but he had no talent and, and zero, his personality. No charisma. Yeah. Like, yeah, not, there wasn't a person there. And you told a funny story about an appearance you made on it.

Sullivan. Yeah, it was. It was a wonderful moment. But he was always getting things a little bit off. You know, he introduced Dolores Gray. It was a wonderful Broadway star. And she was appearing in town. He wanted to do a plug for her.

So he said, you sit in the audience, and I'll introduce you. So it got to that moment, and he said, Al, there's a wonderful lady out here in the audience currently starving on Broadway. That's fantastic and and then he said something about your father yes he did but it and in in uh during rehearsals and we were down at break and he was sitting there looking at his script, and I was coming by, and he says, Al Jocko. He called me that all the time. Jocko.

Al Jocko. Now, wasn't your father Welsh? I said, yeah, he still is. He started laughing. I never saw him laugh before. And he said, they're fine. Tonight, when I say that to you on the air, you say to me what you just said. And I said, okay. And so I worried about it all day.

And he kept winking at me as we passed each other all day long. Don't forget there, Jocko. So it went on the air, and I'm getting a little nervous about it, but I did, and he's supposed to do it between my two songs. So I finished my first song, and I waited for him to do the joke. He said, now, Jocko. I remember the key word is wasn't. He said, now, Choco, isn't your father Welsh? So we just stared at each other.

And the audience just stared at us. And nothing happened. And so then all I could think to say was, yeah, he still was. That's good. You flipped it. I'm interested in your childhood, Jack, too. I guess they would call you born in the trunk a little bit, being that you were a showbiz kid and your mom was the actress Irene Hervey. Gilbert was fascinated to know that she worked with Bela Lugosi and Lionel Atwill.

Because I'm in love with monster movies. Oh, that's good. Yeah, they're fun. They're fun. She had a significant career. I mean, she's in Destry Rides again. She worked with Lionell Barrymore, with Robert Donat,

with Jimmy Stewart. Yes. Emmy nomination. Alan Ladd. Alan Ladd. There you go. Alan Ladd. Yeah. At what point in your development did you realize these people are in show business?

I'm the son of two famous people. It was very early in my life, but he put me in the act in England at the Palladium. He did the donkey serenade, and there was a mule act. There was a pony act in the show. And so he had phony ears made for the pony. And now it was a mule. And he sang to it. And I was the voice of the mule offstage.

At what age? At eight or ten, somewhere in there. Wow, okay. So you're thrown right in. Did you put on a voice for the horse? No, I just had a child's voice and that's what he wanted. So you were thrown right in? I couldn't win him, but I could talk. And did you have discussions with either parent

about show business as a career? I mean, you were getting a taste of it at a very early age, eight and nine. Yes, I did. And I talked to my mother. I borrowed $200 from her to have headshots made, arrangements on my first act. And I was going to go and sing.

But I was working in the gas station and, uh, thank God for that guy. He would keep rehiring me after I go out and I couldn't make a living as a singer. But, um, one of the funny moments about that was after I, I had started recording, started recording my first record the first record I heard on the air I almost drove off the road in my car oh that's great

but I was working in the gas station and this guy came in I think it was in June and he had his top down and he was playing the radio and then I'm wiping his windshield and he had his top down and he was playing the radio and then I'm wiping his windshield and he was standing there and my record came on and it played and I just couldn't tell him

that that was me. He wouldn't have believed it. Yeah, sure kid. That's the first time you heard yourself on the radio? Because we always ask musicians on the show, what was the initial exposure? That was the second time. Oh, the lightning bolt. The first time, it was KMPC and Hollywood, and they were playing my new stuff,

and that's how I got to know them. But the first time, I was just driving by myself, and I almost drove off the road when i heard it and did your parents see you hit stardom oh yeah well well yeah yeah both of them yeah yeah and they what they must have been very excited about that um they were uh and but my dad didn't like my approach because he was a legit singer and most of his production was at a high volume, you know. Was he trained to be as an opera singer? Oh, yeah.

Classically trained. Yeah. He was wonderful. And so, but he didn't, he didn't like my demo record that I made and I made it a capital instantly. And so I, um, I played it for him and he just looked at me and he said, I don't like that.

Namby Pamby kind of singing. So I knew I was okay. That leads me to another part of a story that kind of connects to that, Jack, which you were telling me yesterday. You were performing with him years later. Or he had come to see you in New York. He had come to see me. Yeah. And I, I performed with him in the beginning of my career and we'll get into that.

Maybe that he, he was in my act for years. You returned the favor. Yeah. But no, I, he came to see me at the Waldorf. And, um, he, he came up to me afterwards and he said, son, I can tell you now, after I saw that performance tonight, I never liked you until now. And he was serious. I love that. I never liked you.

Jack, you got to give him points for candor, no? I didn't like him when I liked him. So he was a purist, you could say, about the kind of music he was trained to sing. Absolutely. And so what was influencing you as a kid? Sinatra, Tony Bennett, I mean, what was... What turns you on at that age? What turns your head? It can't say it turned me on, but I was, uh, you know,

I was conscious of male singers and, uh, because I wanted to be one and I just had certain people I admired. Um, and I would record with my, my friend, uh, Emmanuel Sanchez, who would bring his guitar and we'd play and sing after school. And it was great. And make records on this reel-to-reel tape recorder. And, but I listened to a whole bunch of it, Torme, Sinatra was obviously the great, what's the

word? Inspiration? Inspiration. Yeah. Is there a Sinatra story? Because I knew you knew Nancy. Is there a story about Frank playing a local school auditorium? Do I have this right?

Yeah. Nancy and I were chatting in the, where we had lunch at school, uni high. And she said, Hey, Jonesy, why don't you come down to the auditorium in the assembly? I said, okay. I went down there, and the curtain opened, and her dad came on and did the whole show for us, which I thought was wonderful of him. How about that?

Yeah, really, really great. That was the moment that I had really decided I wanted to be a singer. So that was the moment that I had really decided I wanted to be a singer. And of course, we said in the intro about the incredible compliments that both Frank Sinatra and Mel Torme paid you. And what did that feel like? Because I can't imagine two more respected and admired men than that. Also, Gilbert's never received a compliment in short. It's a bit of an alien concept to him, Jack. Well, it's wonderful.

I didn't, it didn't happen all at once. And so every bit by bit, I would get complimented and the male male complimented me on, I forgot why, where I said that, but we worked together a lot. We did a whole tour together for three months and we had a great time. Um, and I was a pallbearer.

Unfortunately it is. Hmm. Uh, but, um, anyway, when a singer gets a compliment like that from the greatest

pop singer arguably the greatest pop singer of all time or popular singer Frank I was very shy about Frank, and we went through a short time where we weren't really hitting it off or anything. It didn't matter. I stayed away.

But then we became friends later on. But what he did that I didn't realize he was doing, when he tried to retire, they did ask him, and I have people that were witness to it. They said, well, who do you think is going to take your place someday?

And he said, well, if he picks the right material, I think Jack Jones could do it. I said, wow. I didn't hear that until later. It's documented. That's a wow moment. It's documented.

I wrote it down on my desk. Go ahead, Gil. Oh, no. Frank and I were talking today, and it was like we were trying to think of names of people you have not worked with. Yeah. Because it just seems like you have worked with everybody in show business. And throughout the show, I'd like to just spit names at you.

Like, for instance, Jack Benny. What do you remember about him? Oh, for heaven's sake. We had a lot of fun. And we did the whole Expo 67 up in Canada. And so I opened for him. And we had a wonderful time. And there was a whole thing that was written for Dennis Day that they pulled out of the trunk for me.

And it was just funny working with him. And he would say, I'd say, say, Jack, he said, I said, Jack, can I give you a little criticism? And then he'd do this long take and silence and say, well, no one is too big in this business not to take criticism. And so on. Well, what is it? I said, you have to take criticism. And so I said, well, what is it? I said, you know that take you do, that long take, you look over here. And so I did it over to the right.

And so his reaction to my doing his take was a take. And he did the take over the other side. And it was so funny. Did you find him to be a generous performer, Jack? He was known for being generous and selfless enough to let other people shine and get the laugh. Absolutely. And we did a sketch on his show that I play all the time for friends.

They want to hear it or see it. the time for friends. They want to hear it or see it. And it must have originally been written for Dennis Day because it was just kind of a stupid guy. And I was a schoolteacher. He was the principal and I was a schoolteacher who was moonlighting because he wasn't paying me enough. And so I had a job at a car wash. And then later on, I delivered papers. And the two of us had a great time doing this very funny sketch. You never heard.

We've done 400 of these shows. And we've talked to a lot of veteran performers. And we've never heard a negative word or a disparaging word about Jack Benny. Oh, I can't see how you would. He was a very, very nice man. There are performers that it seems like everyone we spoke to hated, but, boy, Jack Benny, you cannot find one bad thing about him. But since you brought it up, Gilbert, we haven't heard too many nice things about Joey Bishop. Yes.

Oh my gosh. Well, I think that's the answer right there. I was on his sitcom and he was fine with me but boy, he was not treating other people very well but um we it was fun but uh before he died i called him and said uh hey joey it's jack jones he said you're still alive? Oh, Jesus. I'm not making that up. That was a nice thing for you to do.

We'll ask you about more things. It wasn't until you said that. Well, I will tell you, Jack, we've done 400 shows. We've talked to a lot of people. will tell you jack we've done 400 shows we've we've talked to a lot of people uh i guess danny k and joey bishop are the two people that we've heard the most negative things about yeah i i worked with danny k but i never saw that yeah that's good that was behind the scenes put one in the check in the positive column for danny k gill We will return to Gilbert Gottfried's amazing colossal podcast after this. When you did the demo for Capitol and you were at Capitol briefly, I mean, were they trying to turn you into a rock singer

or is that an oversimplification of what happened? Well, rock was kind of called rockabilly. They wanted me to be something like that. And so they got rid of me real fast because it just wasn't what – Boyle Gilmore, who was a wonderful producer there, he believed in me, but it wasn't working, but, but so I was gone.

And then I was in on the road. I was up in San Francisco and Pete King, who was the Pete King chorale heard me. And he was working with Cap Records in New York. And he called them and said, I think I found you a voice singer. So they signed me and Dave Kapp knew what to do with me. And then you say to Kapp, and what, 20 albums or something

like that? Something like that, yeah. Long, productive run. But Jim and I did have a laugh. Our friend Jim De La Croce, who works with Jack and who was instrumental in setting this up, is on the Zoom with us. Jim is listening in. And he knows I do this crazy deep research. And I found this wonderful movie, I believe from 1959, called Jukebox Rhythm. That's right. Where they, I guess, at that point in your career, there were others who said, well, this guy could be another. He could be a matinee idol like his pop, or he could be a rocker.

First of all, you mentioned Jim De La Croce. Yeah. Who I work with quite frequently, as you know. And so I pressed a button on my phone. I said, call Jim De La Croce. And Siri said, I can only call one person at a time. I like that. It's so funny.

So anyway. Jim's laughing. So anyway, what the question was again. About Jukebox R and and the legendary producer sam katzman well what the the story is that i was visiting my mother on the set um uh of a movie called uh going steady and molly b was a star the young girl, the star. And so I was visiting, and I didn't know that Sam Kasfin saw me and said, I think he probably said, this kid looks inexpensive.

And so he wanted me to do jukebox rhythm. Excuse me. So my agent from MCA took me in there, and I sat outside, and he went in and talked to Sam Katzman. He came out and said he wants you to sign a seven-year deal starting at 250 a week and ending up at 750 a week. And to me, seven years then was seven years was a long time. Sure. So I said, I can't do it. So he went back in and told Sam.

And so he came back out and said, Mr. Casper wants to see you. I said, okay. And I was very nervous and very young, but I just knew what I couldn't do. And so I went in there and he said it's all like understand he took the cigar cigar out of his mouth he said i understand that you want you don't want to do this uh this this movie i said no when mr catherine embraced yeah i can't he said well i tell you what I'm going to do with you. And by that time, I was shaking a little bit in my boots. And I said, what's that?

And he said, you do this movie for me, and then you never work for me again. And I said to myself, that's just what I want. And so I did the movie. Isn't that beautiful? And I said to myself, that's just what I want. And so I did the movie. Isn't that beautiful? It's so real. So Hollywood.

I have to say, you're 20 or 21 years old. I'm watching the movie. TCM, Turner Classic Movies, ran it not too long ago. And you're very smooth. You're very natural on camera for a kid who's not done anything like this before. Well, I went to the Russia. They told me, don't go to the Russia. You'll ruin your performance. No, I had to go to the Russia because I caught myself in the early scenes.

Every time I was talking to the girl, the love interest, I would look down down be shy and look down it was awful I saw that and I stopped doing it so you know I learned a lot on that movie applause applause now folks

a special treat from one of your own members a swell student, a grand guy Riff Manton applause of your own members a swell student a grand guy riff manton you can rock and roll it you can even stroll it saxophone will blow it just come on and go it you don't have to know it all you have to do is free keep the beat and pop it you can really rock it Take your gallon hoppin' Don't you ever knock it You can never top it

All you have to do is free Free Free You can rock and roll it You can even stroll it The saxophone will blow it. Just come on and go it. You don't have to know it. All you have to do is free. There's that great scene where you're all doing the dance craze, which is the freeze. Yeah.

Which is a novelty song that you're singing. I recommend that our listeners find it. You can find it online. You're very natural and you're very charismatic, again, for a guy who's been put in this situation for the first time. But Gilbert co-stars in that film George Jessel, Hans Conrad. Oh, man. Uncle Tannous. And the legendary Fritz Feld. Oh, my God.

That's right. That's right. Tell us about all. I could hear about those actors for an entire show. Well, first of all, Hans Conrad enabled me to be better in that movie every time I was with him in a scene than any other time. I mean, he was such a wonderful actor. Everything became so real. in a scene than any other time. I mean, he was such a wonderful actor.

Everything became so real. And nobody was coaching me except the one, one time. I mean, I was at that time a student of the actor's studio, Hollywood version, which wasn't like the New York version, but you know, I learned about sense memory and motivation. And so I'm standing next to brian don levy who was from the old school and that was a like the del sart method was um and you know kind of making facial expressions but it wasn't coming from the heart he was a wonderful actor though he did a great job I'm not putting him down. So anyway, so I'm standing next to him, and the director says,

okay, I want you to go walk over. And when he said that line, I want you to walk over and look out the window. So I said, okay. So then I turned to Brian Dunleavy, and I said, what would be my motivation for going to the window? He said, don't give me that actor's studio crap, kid. Just go to the window. You're free to use profanity on this show, Jack. Well, you know.

So Hans Conrad was generous to you as an actor. That's nice to hear. So you learned a lot about acting from Hans Conrad. Well, I did. And he didn't have to tell me anything. He was just portraying this person. He was playing a guy who was a dress designer. And he was just doing such a great job. And he just made me better in the scenes I did with him.

And, of course, Fritz Feld, we love here. Tell us about Fritz. He had the one shtick, which was the mouth pop, remember? The mouth thing and the clicking of the heels. And the clicking of the heels. And the clicking of the heels. There, he's always got it. Always played a maitre d'. Yeah, yeah, maitre d' or the head of the hotel.

That's right. You know, right away, sir. And then he'd pop his mouth. They made a documentary about Gilbert's life a few years ago, Jack, and I bring it up because it ends with Gilbert waxing poetic for about five minutes about Fritz Feld. Yes. That's great.

No, he found that one piece of schtick and it always worked. He wrote it for 70 years. Yeah, yeah, he did. He played a dress designer and I sang at the showing of dresses for this princess from Europe and

that I was in love with and he introduced me to this thing before the showing

which I did and he he said and here he is Ritz Minton and then he is, Riff Minton. And then you do the clicking of the heels and the pop. You can't do it. Jack's trying to do the pop.

Yeah, I'm trying to do it. Nobody could do it like he did. There you go. That's it. That's it. You got it. You nailed it. And did you interact with Jess a little?

Oh, yeah. Yeah. He just did an act club thing one long scene about you kids and your music and all this stuff

and he'd make fun of it. Rock and roll hadn't come in yet oh you know it was in that movie willie and the hand giant that's right that's right how about that i think fritz feld wound up even doing an episode of the odd couple uh i believe he did yes he turned up in everything now this this is the entertainment portion of the show, Jack, where Gilbert entertains you. Okay. He's going to do a little of his jessel for you.

Please. One bright and shining light That taught me wrong from right I found in my mother's eyes Those flurry tale she told of streets all paved with gold. I found in my mother's eyes just like a old time movie wandering home. Do the parrot bit for Jack. Yeah.

Hello, Mama? Mama? Yes, it's Georgie. Your son Georgie? The one that sends you checks every week. Yeah, that's the one. Did you get that parrot I sent you, darling? What?

You ate the parrot? But that parrot spoke ten different languages. Oh, he should have said something. And his other one was... Oh, God. Oh, oh, his other one was, How's your eyesight, darling? Oh, you see spots before your eyes.

Why don't you put your glasses on? How's it now? Oh, you see the spots clearer. Yeah. And Frank and I were talking. You were on the road with Bob Hope to entertain the troops. Yeah, he was. He was in Vietnam.

Yes, I was. That changed my life. I was, you know, I just didn't, I wasn't paying any attention. And I went over there and experienced the whole thing just for two weeks. But I came home with a whole different attitude about life, about caring about people. Actually, what I did was I had a lot of time between, you know, we'd fly. We'd get in a Sikorsky helicopter and we'd fly to the next place and there'd be, you know, there'd be things going off around us. Flack, you know, and, and there wasn't Roberta.

Flack and it wasn't Roberta. Very good. That's the worst joke I ever made. Anyway. You're on the right show. That's the worst joke I ever made. Anyway. You're on the right show. So anyway, I had a lot of time before the show, and there would be a fence that was severing us from the guys that were going to see the show.

And so I had this tape recorder. So I went up to each guy and I said, listen, do you want anything to say to your loved ones at home? Just talk into this and put the address in. When I get home, I'll send it out. And they just, they closed their eyes and just, they were in another world for a couple of minutes. And I did that and I got home and did, and it was,

it just, that wasn't the kind of person I was before I got home and did, and, and it was the most, it just, that wasn't the kind of person I was before I got there. Wow. And it helped me a lot. I know you're well aware of the clips online. There's that great clip of you singing, uh, changing the lyrics to wives and lovers because you were singing to a service woman. Yes, I was. You were brought on stage. It's a lovely little moment.

Which accentuated my stupidity because I didn't know that you, I called her, I said, for wax should always be lovers too. And she pulled her face and she said, and then Bob, a voiceover, he said, she's a nurse jack. But it was fun, a lot of fun. How did you find Hope? And you worked with him a couple of times. You went to Vietnam, but you're also on a handful of Hope specials. Yeah.

He was a delightful man. He was just a lot of fun to be with. Everything was humor was his life. And I remember that I said to him on the plane coming back, and we were sitting up, and everybody else was asleep. And I'm a big C-141. And I said to myself, I bet you'd be happy to get home and have New Year's with Dolores and the family. And he said, yeah, yeah, yeah.

But you know, Jack, I get home and I sit down and I go, where did everybody go? And he was just addicted to giving that form of love to everybody. Oh, that's fascinating. Yeah. So when he got home, it was the absence of the audience and that feeling was strong for him. Well, that's what he was telling me. I mean, it was exaggerating a bit. the absence of the audience and that feeling was strong for him. Well, that's what he was telling me. I mean, it was exaggerating a bit.

I'm sure he didn't come home and say to Dolores, gee, I wish I was with you. Maybe he did. Yeah, maybe he did. I doubt it. And another great comedian you worked with, Phil Silvers. Oh, yeah. I don't have any stories about him. I don Phil Silvers. Oh, yeah. I don't have any stories about him.

I don't know why. Oh. Yeah. I think it's Hollywood Palace he's hosting, and he's making fun of your hair. He's doing self-deprecating jokes about the fact that he's short and bald, and you're a young, handsome buck with this wonderful head of hair. And he says, do me a favor, just don't sing. Oh, that's sing. I didn't

remember that. He says, isn't it enough what you look like? You have to sing too? It's not fair to the rest of us. Oh, God. Oh, and another comedian, Myron Cohen. Yeah, Myron opened for Jack in Vegas. Yes, he did.

My first headlining job in Vegas and he was so wonderful. But he always used to squint and say, kid, don't sit in your wardrobe. That's the biggest

advice I ever get. Don't sit in your wardrobe i love it we we touched upon this when we were we were talking last night jack but tell us something about vegas in those days i mean you played the sands you said jack and trotter was one of your early your early uh champions and mentors you played the flamingoamingo. I mean, we had Tony Sandler here. We were talking about Vegas and its heyday under mob rule. That's right. I mean, you were there in the golden age, and you were part of it. I was.

I played the Flamingo for quite some time. And I had a great time. We used to do a whole month of two shows a night without a night off. And I remember being really tired at the end of that. And that's the way Vegas was. Yeah. And it was a grind, but it was a good grind. It was exciting. And it was a grind, but it was a good grind.

It was exciting. And then I got a call from my agent that said, Mr. Entrada wants to see you. He said, and he has, it was right after Frank drove the golf cart through the window and left. What were the circumstances of that? Sinatra drove a golf cart through a glass window. And Cohen. Oh, Carl Cohen? Carl Cohen told him not to do something.

And most people didn't tell Frank not to do something. But he did. And Sinatra got mad and took a golf cart and drove it right through the window and said, I'm not coming back. And so Entrada calls me. And he said, laughingly, we got room for a boy singer over here. What was the nightlife like?

I mean, obviously it was an exhausting grind. As you just said, you were doing two shows. Two shows a night? Two shows a night. Two shows a night. But it wasn't exhausting then. It would be now to me. Yeah.

But it wasn't exhausting. And we were looking to go out after the show and go catch something in somebody in the lounge and and it was it was great you know um i enjoyed every minute of it who was who was around then and i mean you told me you knew hackett you knew rickle you knew rickles these guys were friends i assume i assume shecky was somebody you came to know absolutely yeah and but rickles and I started at a club in L.A. called, oh, here I go. Was it the one on La Cienega? Yeah, it was called Slate Brothers.

Slate Brothers, yeah. And Henry Slate was a character. The Slate Brothers were a comedy act years before that. But they owned this club. And so I would sing, and Henry Slate would. And I didn't know where my career was going, but it was filling the room. And I was thrilled about that. And so Henry would say, how about that Jack Jones?

Isn't he great? His mother must be, because my mother was in the audience. His mother must be very proud of him. I know my waitresses are. That kind of stuff go ahead kill oh no i heard like those when the mob ran it i mean some were out and out killers sure yet there was no one nicer to performers than uh these mobsters. Especially if you didn't work blue. Well, they were nice. If you didn't cross them.

Yeah. Any memories of any dealings with any shady characters? Anything that comes to mind? Yes. You just went right. I wouldn't have thought of this in a million years. I was playing Pittsburgh. I wouldn't have thought of this in a million years.

I was playing Pittsburgh. And, you know, after the show, there was nothing to do. And I was able, with American Airlines, I was able to travel with my bumper pool table. And you could fold it up and put it, and I put it on the plane and I would put it in, in the, in the hotel room and my musicians and I would, would, would play bumper pool. And so a woman came wandering up the stairs and they were standing there.

And so we didn't, we just kept playing. And her boyfriend, her husband came up and got very angry. And he was obviously, you know, he had a black overcoat on and his hands in his pockets. So he said that he was angry with her. And he took her out and around the corner in the hallway and put her up against the wall and smacked her. Well, the hero, Jack Jones, goes out to tell him that you shouldn't do that. And he said, what? I said, you shouldn't do that. And he said, what?

I said, you shouldn't do that. He said, you know, are you sure you want to talk to me like that? And so my drummer or somebody said, yeah, are you sure you want to talk to him like that? And I said, what do you mean? And they pointed to his hand in his pocket. There was a gun in there. It aimed at me. Holy shit.

Yeah. But that's a lot of stuff. Just keep your mouth shut and sing. Shut up and sing, kid. Shut up and sing. But you had to go to Pittsburgh to have a run-in with a gunsel, with a tough guy. Cladright Radio, I am curious to know if Mr. Jones still performs Wives and Lovers Live, and if he does, does he still catch grief in this day and age for the old lyrics? Now, you adapted over the years once

that song, the times change quickly for that Bacharach and David song and that lyric particularly, and you adapted by putting in, what, your own comical lyrics? your own comical lyrics? Yeah, I did, but in defense. I had to make a joke out of it, because it was absurd. First of all, I didn't write the song. And the words were written by Hal David. And nobody knew. I mean, everybody asked me to sing the song. The label didn't. they asked me to sing the song. The label didn't know. And so the whole, the temperature of the, of the female world changed and rightfully so. I mean, that's kind of, you know, but they didn't have to, people would come up to me. Women would come up and they want to hit me, you know,

you tell me a woman in Boston tried to take a swing at you. Yeah. You tell me a woman in Boston tried to take a swing at you? Yeah. But I was driving in my car. I was about to drive, and she came up to my window. And I thought, it was the first time I ever was scared and rolled my window up so she wouldn't hurt me. Can you either sing or at least recite some of the more dated, offensive lyrics in that song? Well, first of all, hey, little girl, comb your makeup.

Soon he will open the door. Comb your hair and fix your makeup, yeah. And the whole idea was that you better look good when he gets home. And their attitude was, well, what am I, chopped liver? I have to look good. What about him? Doesn't he have to look good? Why are you saying that? So that's the whole argument. It was really the women's

National Organization of Women got hold of that and they ran with it. Go ahead. I wrote a lyric and I can't read the whole thing, but hey little boy, cap your teeth, get a hairpiece.

It went from there hey little girl comb your hair fix your makeup soon he will open the door door don't think because there's a ring on your finger you need try anymore for wives should always

be lovers too run to his arms the moment he comes home to you I'm warning you Oh, and one actor who I always have to preface it. I've met him like a handful of times, and I always have to preface it with, well, he was always nice to me.

And that's Jerry Lewis. So what dealings did you have with Jerry Lewis? Well, he was always nice to me. There you go, Jack. Touche. And I'll tell you, we go back to Slate Brothers. I was talking about that. But he would come in there.

And he would champion what I was doing. And then he had a two-hour, short-lived two-hour television show. He put me on it as a regular. And I did the telethon every year for him. And we were very, very close friends. And yes, I know the other side of him, but I didn't see it very often. You're lucky. Yeah.

I want to ask you about Wives and Lovers in a different context, in a musical context. Do you know a hit when somebody puts one in front of you? Jack, I mean, what's been your track record over the years? You told me the story about After the Lovin', the Engelbert song. Yeah. That's one that got away. Well, I would, yes, I would. A lot of songs, they were hits, but the public didn't agree with me.

hits but but the the the public didn't agree with me but they're i i still say they were hits but we didn't expose them properly or didn't get enough play or whatever but yeah the um i was given this song by a friend of mine in the publishing business and and i, I know that's a hit. And I called the record label in New York. It doesn't matter who I was with, but I called them. I said, this is a hit. I opened, I was producing the album. I opened the album with it and reprised it at the end. And they refused to release it as a single. I said, you got to do that. That's a hit. No, it isn't.

So they didn't. And so then a year later, my friend called me and said, look, it's been a year. I'm going to record this with another singer. And he did. And the song went like this. So I sing you to sleep after the love. Right. it and it was a monster hit yeah and it was great yeah and i was talking to frank earlier and i'm supposed to ask you about the day you were conceived or how you were conceived.

That can mean anything. They wanted a girl, you know? No, they didn't. I was, before I was born, my father and mother, this is how they met. And my father and mother, this is how they met. They were at a party. And Cesar Romero and Betty Furness. Well, Cesar Romero was with my mother and Betty Furness was with my father. And so during the party, my father and mother were hitting it off and Caesar said to Betty, look, I'll take

you home. Let's leave them to get to know each other. And then she said, that's a good idea. And they left. And that's the beginning of my story. Because years later later I used to see Caesar all the time at different functions and every time we'd say goodbye I'd say see you later dad. Oh that's great. And so finally he said at one point he said look can I ask you a question why do you keep calling me dad? And I said, because where would I be if you didn't take Betty Furness home? So your dad was at this function with Betty Furness.

Your mom was there with Cesar Romero. That's right. No stranger to this podcast, but Gilbert, we'll leave it there. And by Cesar leaving with Betty, that allowed your parents. That's great. It's like back to the future. That's right. Yeah.

And out of all your songs, you've had some major hit songs. The one that you could stop anybody in the street and ask them to sing is the theme to the love boat. Absolutely. God sent that song because, and I can thank Charlie Fox and Paul Williams. And Paul, two guys we had here, by the way. Yeah. We love them up here. They called and said, would you do this?

And I said, yeah. I'm very flattered you called me and thought of me. To Paul, I said, yeah, I'm very flattered you called me and thought of me. To Paul, I said this. I said, but I don't, I will only wish you a lot of luck because I don't know who's ever going to, you know, do a TV show about a cruise ship. That's how brilliant I was back then. And then you and your dad showed up in an episode together

with Dorothy L'Amour. It's a sweet story. I wrote it. Yeah, it's very well done. It's always nice to see the two of you together. I didn't write the script, but I wrote the story. Now, is there any way, and it's very difficult on Zoom and all this, is there any way the two of us can try to sing La Boe together?

There must be. Okay. There must be. You'll sing and then stop and hand it to me, and I'll sing and hand it. Because we're over Zoom and it'll have to be sewn together, why don't you take different sections? You ready? Yes.

Love, excited. That's you. I'm sorry? Yes. Love exciting and new. Oh, that's you. I'm sorry. Yes. Here it is. Love exciting and new. Come aboard. We're expecting you.

Love life's sweetest reward let it flow it floats back to you the love boat soon we'll be making another run you just changed keys you just changed keys I like it better. Love, love, love. He changed keys. He doesn't have a key. Promises something for everyone. Promises something for everyone. Set a course for adventure. You're mine on a new romance.

Love won't hurt anymore. Wait, wait, wait. You'll be missing. New romance. New romance. And love Won't hurt anymore It's an open smile On a friendly shore I can't go up this high

It's new love high. It's love. Welcome aboard. It's love. And you go, uh. The love boat promises something for everyone. Set a course for adventure. Gilbert, it's over. It's over, Gil. Oh. Not for me, it's over. It's over, Gilbert.

Not for me, it's not. Charlie and Paul will be getting an email late tonight. You'll get a bill. You'll get a bill. Here's one, Jack, for you. This is a story about somebody who worked with you, Dan Fisher. Jack and I worked on the movie American Hustle. Jack, I approached you while you were sitting at the piano between takes on the I've Got Your Number scene,

and I nervously asked if you would mind performing a bit of the Love Boat theme for us, and without skipping a beat, you did. I joined in, and so did the crew. It was a wonderful experience. Scratch off a bucket list moment in my life. Whoa. So there you go. You just proved Gilbert's point. scratch off a bucket list moment in my life. Wow. So there you go. You just proved Gilbert's point.

A total stranger walks up to you and asks you to sing The Love Boat, you do it. I don't remember that. Was I drinking? And I want to thank you for singing The Love Boat with me. My pleasure. We will return to Gilbertilbert godfrey's amazing colossal podcast but first a word from our sponsor here's another one jack kurt nielsen

says my uncle graham uh clingsbury did the publicity for calneva when it was calneva excuse me when it was rechristened i should know that when it was rechristened by the Rat Pack, my uncle and my aunt were very impressed by you, but they especially fell in love with your mom. Cal Neva? Yeah. Does this guy have this story right? I don't remember much about it. I just remember that I opened for Joey Lewis. Wow, Joey Lewis. Yeah. And, and that's a name. He was something and and over for him and then Sinatra was there and all that was going on. The whole

thing with the story was going on and then I didn't know i was i just wanted i just wanted to get the show over with i was very nervous and and sinatra came in to hear me for the first time and um i'm just a kid you know but it was great it was fun tell us about too some of these these legendary uh musicians arrangers conductors that you worked with. I was going to tell you about Joey Lewis. Oh, sorry. You didn't know. My father took me to see him when my dad and I were working in Vegas together,

and he was playing at the El Rancho Vegas. And he said, son, I want you to see this performer. And he said, son, I want you to see this performer. And so I did. And I said, dad. I didn't. Before I saw him, I said, dad, I met him. I said, dad, he's drunk.

How is he? He can't possibly do this. He said, you watch. And sure enough, this man got him and did a great show. And I remember he said, a woman called up the police department. She said, officer, there's a sex maniac in my room. Pick him up the first thing in the morning. And never forget that joke. And never forget that joke.

Tell Gilbert the one you told me last night, Jack, because it's so good, the one with the brothel. Tell me. The old guy goes to the brothel? Oh, yeah, yeah. That's a great old joke. The guy goes to the house of a repute. I used to do this in my act way back when I was a really young man.

And so the guy goes to the House of the Repute, and he says, Madam, I want a girl. And she said, Pop, how old are you? I'm 80 years old today. She said, Pop, how old are you? I'm 80 years old today. She said, Pop, you had it. He said, I have. How much do I owe you? And ironically, I was doing an old man's voice.

And now I am that old man. That's funny. And I don't talk like that. I hope. No, you sound in great voice. Thank you. Stan Merrill says, please tell Jack that I love his cover of Little Feet's Dixie Chicken.

Oh, my God. Yeah, that's a fun one. That was a fun one, and nobody believed that I would do that. And I did it. I don't know why, but, uh, yeah. Uh, Carl, Charles Santino, did, did Jack get any feedback from the great Randy Newman about his, uh, his covers, uh, and interpretations of, uh, Randy Newman songs? Uh, your version, by the way, I have to say, if I think it's going to rain today is quite lovely.

Thank you. I never ever heard anything about it. Randy and I have never met. Oh, really? Yeah. I just did that because actually Peggy Lee and I were friends and she pointed that out to me. And so I did the two songs. Patrick Williams arrangement.

Yeah. Late great Patrick Williams' arrangement. Yeah. Late great Patrick Williams. And we'll have to get Randy on this show. We'll not only get Randy on, we'll introduce him to Jack. It's high time they had a powwow. I'm going to tell you a story on him, and I hope he doesn't mind. He was having a meeting with the producers of Alice Betoklis. And it was a very drug-oriented kind of farce.

And so he wanted to do the score. And so he came in. And so the producer, who apparently was smoking a little weed, was sitting there and said, go ahead, what have you written? And he went through his stuff and they said, that's very good. Do you have anything else? And it was said that Randy came up with one more title and sang. The producer was a very, very big, heavy, overweight person. And so Randy said, well, I have this one. Davey the Fat Boy.

Isn't he round? Isn't he round? Wow, on the spot. And he didn't get the job. And another show you did that was a weird show of its, that could only be of that time period, and that was Playboy After Dark. Well, yeah, Jack's got that great version of God Bless the Child that you did on Playboy After Dark.

Isn't it interesting? Nobody would have seen that if it weren't for YouTube. Well, that's the interesting thing about the internet. Yeah, all this stuff is brought back. Well, that's – and I didn't like YouTube when it first came to be. And because somebody was, I was at the Palladium in London, and somebody was sitting ringside and took a picture of the inside of my nose. I mean, that's me singing, but all you saw was my nose.

And so I said, you know, I don't know about this thing, having the rights to just do that. And now I'm very grateful to him because there are a lot of, there are generations that never would have known what I did. And the funny thing is when, and it's something I'm so happy about this podcast. It's like guys like you who some generations will go oh who's that they start looking you up on the internet and then they become fans of yours yeah and then

and at first i found some things that were not very nice and it just scared the hell out of me because they were saying well you know i hate them and I thought, God, if this goes on, I'm a dead man. But it didn't. Mostly it's nice stuff. Tell me, too, about this is somebody that Gilbert and I have wanted to down was Steve Lawrence, who's a close buddy of yours for many, many years. That's right. Can you tell us something about him? We know he's not doing terribly well.

Yeah, I know. We've just been buddies all these years and non-competitive singers just uh mutual fans of each other and just this just a wonderful time i'm sorry that we can't do that anymore yeah but uh we tried hard to get them too you know well okay the reason why you can't get him was made public, but I don't want to go into it. No, we don't have to go into it. But what a legend and what a man of many talents. A room without windows. A room without doors.

Yeah. Great guy. Yeah, yeah. In the days when singers were also funny. Yes. When singers like – Well, thanks a lot. Well, I mean, you as well.

I put you in that category. I remember Steve Lawrence popping up on the Newhart Show, and he'd be hysterical. Oh, yeah, yeah. Yeah, I think Steve Lawrence makes a pass at Bob Newhart's wife on the show. Oh, my God. Well, you know, it's a different era of show business, because if you're Jack Jones, if you're Steve Lawrence, if you're Andy Williams, you're on television.

Even Perry Como, you're on television, but you're doing comedy. You're in comedy skits all the time. Well, he did a lot of Carol Burnett shows, and he was great on it. He was great on the Carol Burnett show. And on the subject of longtime friendships, and I will recommend, I'll use this as a segue here to tell our listeners to get their hands on your Tony Bennett tribute album, which is wonderful. Thank you. Yeah, Jack Jones paints a on your Tony Bennett tribute album, which is wonderful. Thank you. Yeah, Jack Jones paints a tribute to Tony Bennett. But you guys go, and it's also on YouTube, your first TV special from 66.

That's right. And great seeing the two of you together doing your thing. But tell us about Tony, who recently retired, finally. tony who recently retired finally well um we just had a a friendship that had nothing to do with show business and we just talk on the phone all the time i had the the same relationship with peggy lee rest her soul and and and it just we just would get on and talk and we wouldn't talk about necessarily show business but we just would get on and talk. And we wouldn't talk about necessarily show business, but we just talk. And so we never worked together except on my show in Canada that I did that you mentioned at the top of the show.

He came on with me, and we did a whole thing together. It was great. And I have that clip. I run it all the show. He came out with me and we did a whole thing together. It was great. I have that clip. I run it all the time. It's fun. Only because Della Croce promised. You do a little Tony Bennett, don't you? I can't do that now. It would be disrespectful.

Okay. Because he can't answer me. Okay. Because, you know, he can't answer me. Oh. Why can't you tell us about Don Rickles? Oh, another great guy. Rickles was a wonderful man. Oh. They don't make a look at me. He was pointed in the audience. There's Jack Jones.

I saw him today on the street. He was, you know, his father was following him and pulling a mule saying, wait up, Jack. Did you make Red Fox's acquaintance at any point in Vegas? Just briefly. Briefly. Yeah. Yeah.

Yeah. I mean, it's a great list of names. And I go online and I look at these pictures of you, these old Vegas marquees, with you performing at various casinos. And it's fun to see Myron Cohen on the bill with you and Joanne Worley on the bill with you at the Sands. Oh, yeah. Oh, and Charlie Callis. Did you work with Charlie Callis? Yes, yes. Oh, yeah. Yeah. We Did you work with Charlie Callis? Yes, yes.

Oh, yeah. Yeah. We just took a lucky guess. You must have had every comic from the 60s at some point open for you. Well, I did a lot, but you brought a story to mind about, oh, who opened for Frank a lot? Oh, Pat Henry? Pat Henry. Oh, yeah.

Yeah, sure. Okay. So there's a wonderful story about him. They were playing charades. And Frank got mad and threw, picked up a little clock from a coffee table and threw it against the wall. And, and, and he's, and he said, as time goes by, that was funny.

Andrew McCallum says all I can say is that this man recorded the best version of Angel Eyes ever recorded better than Sinatra better than Tony Bennett perhaps not better than Gilbert and JJ James and I know this is an impossible question to answer Jack and you've been asked it a hundred times, I'm sure.

Do you have a favorite song that you have recorded or do you at least have a favorite song at this moment in time? I am personally very fond of I Am A Singer. Well, I am too. Your repertoire. I started, I was the first one to sing that song. That's a good one. I started, I was the first one to sing that song. That's a good one.

Do you have any where you give it a listen now and you say, God damn it, that's good. I got that right. I was in the pocket. I'm just, I'm going to sound like a typical singer. Well, I just finished this album. And I did. And it was a huge orchestra.

And it's all the ballads that I always wanted to do or wanted to do over. Oh, that's interesting. There's a lot of songs on there that I just, and it works. And it's just a great album. It'll be out sometime, uh, later this year. Okay. Is that the one we plugged at the top? No, the one we plugged is out now. The one that we plugged is out now. So this is another one in the pipeline. Yes. And, and I already booked your show for that. Good, good. You are, you are extremely prolific. Uh, this is what I wanted to ask you about Jack is your acting career. You're in the

rat patrol. Gilbert and I were having a laugh at, uh, at some of these great things that you did in the, in the, in the sixties and seventies, you turn up on a Macmillan and wife and police woman. And later in your career, you went on the road. You did a lot of theater. Yeah. Is, is, is acting a chore for a guy who's really a singer or, or do you find some, some satisfaction and pleasure in it? Well, I was, um, back in the, in the day when I was doing the Catsman movie. I mean, I was studying acting and I really wanted to be an actor and a singer. And whichever came first, I would have been happy to have. Oh, I didn't know that.

Yeah. And so I kept at it. And I was very, very happy if somebody offered me a role that I could do. And I improved, I think. And so that's a great love of mine, actually. And I went on the road with Man of La Mancha, and that was really an experience for me. I'll bet.

And you got to sing your big number. Did that, but I worked with some actors who had done the show a lot, and I learned from them. So you found pleasure in it. It wasn't because you set out to go down either road. It's not easy. Yeah, I can imagine. In Man of the Mush, you're only off the stage for 10 minutes.

And you're feeding everybody else their cues. So you have to really know this. You can't not remember your line but get it because somebody said the setup to it. You're setting everybody else up. It's really something. I'll just throw this out because Jim got a huge kick out of this. You're in a movie called The Comeback. And your co-star in that movie, Pamela Stevenson,

later in life became my psychotherapist. And that's true. Yeah, that's true. No kidding. She's married to the comedian Billy Connolly. No, I know. I know that. I know that.

Did she lose her job? Nope. Pamela Connolly. She changed her name. Well, at least she saw patients under the name Pamela Connolly. She was my therapist in Beverly Hills for a time. She was in Beverly Hills? Yeah, in the 90s.

Oh, my God. In the 90s. She doesn't brag about it it's not on her resume no no no but it was so funny because this gorgeous woman and I was doing the

Palladium at night and I was worn out and I knew my resistance was low and we started the movie and she had a cold. And I refused to do the kissing scene. We moved it until later. I said, I wouldn't kiss her because I didn't want to get a cold.

Very smart. It's beautiful. Yeah. To our listeners, they would know Pamela Stevenson from Mel Brooks' History of the World and many other roles. I got to, and I want to throw in this bit of trivia too, Gilbert. Jack's movie that we were talking about before, Jukebox Rhythm, was on a double bill with The Tingler. Wow. Vincent Price horror movie, which our fans would get a kick out of.

It's a little fun history. For your lives. Scream the tingler loose in the theater. Oh, thank God. That's his Vincent Price check. Oh, I knew him, too. You knew Vincent Price? Oh, tell us about Vincent Price.

I just knew him. We'd see him at parties, and he was a very nice man and didn't scare me a bit. You got around, my friend. Wow. Yeah, I've been around. You got around. These wonderful, I was starting to say before, these wonderful arrangers and composers and lyricists. And we just lost recently your friend Marilyn Bergman, our condolences, by the way.

Oh, yeah. And Leslie Brickus, we just lost another, another giant. I know Gilbert's a fan. I told you last night, Gilbert's a fan of Neil Hefty. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. I mean, you, you are, you are doing the Lord's work. I've been doing one of his songs and, and girl talk. And, but I, I wrote a special lyric to it. And then they, they like to,

they like to do that. They call it Botox. Botox. We've lost so many of these people, Michelle Legrand and Henry Mancini and Hefty and Billy May and May and Aznavour and all these wonderful people that you work with. And you – I was starting to say you're doing something – you are keeping these people's memories alive. You're keeping the flame burning. It's important.

Well, I promised them that I would. No, it's just a bad joke. No, it's just a bad joke. With jokes like that, you could be my opening act. My point is it's nice. Topped again. I was topped again. You were topped.

It's nice that someone is still singing these songs, that somebody is still keeping these artists' memory and this great work alive. No, I'm very grateful to be able to do it. What kind of guy was Mancini? He struck me as an interesting fellow. Very shy man. Shy and quiet? Yeah.

And he had Grammys on this ledge in his living room that went all the way across the whole living room. Nothing but Grammys. But a very shy man. But he excelled at sitting down and creating these wonderful arrangements

and songs and whatever. Very quiet man. What kind of person was Nelson? Henry Mancini in his early days, I think, wrote a lot of science fiction scores. He did in the early days. Probably to pay the bills.

What kind of guy was Nelson Riddle? I mean, there's another towering figure in the American songbook. I did one album with him, and then I worked with him on a PBS special that I hosted. I never got to know him very well, but he was very, very, and again, very quiet, very unassuming. The night you did God Bless the Child, Gilbert was talking about Playboy After Dark. Do I have this right?

Was James Brown in the room? Yes, he was. And we had worked on the Hollywood Palace together. And so I was very surprised how he was reacting to my music. And he just loved all kinds of music. He was quite a performer. Wow. I can't think of anybody this man didn't work with, Gilbert.

You worked with Count Basie too? Yes. Wow. I know you know your way around comedy, Jack. So here's a question. Would you tour with Gilbert and the Sunshine Boys? Jack. So here's a question. Would you tour with Gilbert and the Sunshine Boys? I know my way around comedy.

What about Gleason? Before we get you out of here, we're just going to throw some names in your lap and almost like word association. If you could give us like one thought. Gleason? Yeah. Generous and big. That's it. How about Red Skelton? Shy and naughty. Shy and naughty. shy and

naughty shy and naughty I've heard that we heard that about him he loved to do the dirty hour before we went on we did a dress rehearsal and it was disgusting that's what we heard

I heard a lot of times on Red Skelton when you when the actors who are on it would start laughing. They were remembering the original version that he told in the dress rehearsal where it was really filthy. Yeah, I guess so. We just love to break up on the real show. It was fun when we lost it. It was great.

That was the way Carol Burnett was. And when they would lose it, when Harvey Korman and, you know. Conway. Yeah. Here's another name I'm going to ask you about because it's her centennial year. Her 100th year,y garland somebody you work with as a young singer wonderful wonderful woman she to me she was she was so and but one thing i noticed about her she would if you were addressing her or singing.

Hello. I heard the dog. That's Gilbert's dog. I know. I wondered if I was ever going to hear the dog. It wasn't the dog. It was me. The moon came out.

Anyway, so she would never, ever be distracted and talk to anybody. She was all yours if you were talking to her or singing to her. And Frank Sinatra was the same way. I played in front of him, and he was totally polite. But anyway, Judy was that way. And the show we did, the Christmas show, I watch it and I

watch it like I kveil. You kveil. It's great to see the two of you. I don't know any other word. I'm not Jewish, but that's the only word I use. It's great to see the two of you together. And she came to see you live.

Yes, at the Coconut Grove. The Coconut Grove. Yeah. Yeah. You were around for so much wonderful show business, Jack. The heyday. I really... Coconut Grove.

And I'm sure you played all of these big clubs. And Vegas's heyday. Yep. And it was great. I played so many hotels. I played the Fmingo, the Sands. And I kept playing these hotels over the years, and they all imploded behind me.

Wow. You know, every time I'd close, about a year later, they'd blow it up and build a new one. Pretty soon I had to pick up my pace and get out of there. Did you ever play the Copa? Oh, sure. Did you run play the Copa? Oh, sure. Did you run into Jules Fidel? Okay.

Did I run into Jules Fidel? We used to say that's another show. Okay. So Jules Fidel would sit up in the lounge and you would have to have an audience with him after your first show. And so, and you'd sit and make conversation with him.

And he was kind of a man from the street and he would talk like this and you'd be very intimidated by it. And he had a big ring banging on the table. He was mad. But there was a comedy team playing there one time, Forbes and Villa. Remember them? I can't say I do.

I can't say I do. What were they called? Forbes and Villa forbes and villa gill mean anything to you no you never heard of them no wow we thought we knew every comedy team yeah so so so bedell never saw the act before the show but then this particular day he was coming through when they were rehearsing and And so Fidel said, hey, kid, are you funny? And Joey said nervously, he said, no. So then he walked out.

So they did their opening show and they had to go up and meet him in the lounge. And they sat down and Joey said, Mr. Fidel, how'd you like our show? Kid, I like you. You keep your word. Put that together. That's great. A legendary character.

Oh, Gil, I'm running out of cards here, so I'm going to plug Jack. Jack, how often do you host Seriously Sinatra on SiriusXM? I'm just finishing the second time, and they played the first one I did about five or six times over the years. Okay. And they couldn't wait to get me back years later. The new album, as Gilbert mentioned, is Every Other Day I Have the Blues. And that is about, it's written by a guy named Dave Tull, who's a drummer.

He used to play drums a lot for Barbra Streisand. And he's a wonderful singer and a writer. And so he wrote this song about, as a send up to Joe Williams, every day I have the blues. It just struck him funny cause this guy was a very wealthy man. He was complaining about his life.

And so he wrote this song about, he was, every other day of the blues. And on the day I get the blues because some of my servants were making noise coming up the stairs. I'm trying to take a nap. And my Ferrari is in the shop. And it's very, very cute. It's a funny title. And what else do you want to plug or promote?

Obviously you've got another album in the pipeline. I already recommended to the Tony Bennett album which is just a very sweet tribute. All My Tomorrows you do such a great job with that. Oh thank you. Thank you. Well anyway that was a great experience for me i enjoyed

that doing that album and with mike renzi who was then my piano player it's a classic because of him so we made this that album in uh nashville and it was a great modern studio in this guy's house, but he had not much room to have musicians in there. And so we had to put the bass player upstairs in the, in the master bedroom. And we communicated and we had run, ran lines and stuff and it all was beautifully recorded, but there was no soundproofing. So we had to pay a guy to, and we would communicate with him and say,

okay, we're rolling again. And the guy would start feeding the dog next door. So it wouldn't bark. And you told me he got a credit on the album. Yes, he did. We have to employ someone for our Zoom calls for the same reason. Jack, keep on keeping on. Keep going strong. Thank you very much. If I did the math right, your first year in show business, 58, give or take?

I don't know. I haven't looked at it. Well, it said on your website that 2008 was your 50th year in show business, so I did a little math. Very clever. That's very clever. I'm quick. They don't give this job to just monkeys, Jack. So by that arithmetic, in 2023, next year will be your 65th year in show business. Yeah, I think I'll make something out of it. I think you should. Yeah, of it. I think you should.

Yeah, thank you. I think you and Gilbert should do something together. Absolutely. Thanks for playing with us and doing this, and thanks to Jim. This was fun, and I'm glad that we did it. I'm glad we did it. We want to thank Gino Salamone, who also chased you for two years. I'm sorry about that.

That's okay. We knew if one Italian guy didn't get you, the other one would. Jack, thank you so much. Thanks for the music. Thanks for the decades of entertainment. Thank you very much for having me. I appreciate it very much. And thank you again for singing with me.

I blanked it out already. Jack gets the last zinger. Yeah. This has been Gilbert Gottfried's amazing colossalal Podcast with my co-host Frank Santopadre. And we've been talking to the great Jack Jones. Set a course for adventure, your mind on a new romance. Hello. Jack is throwing in the ship noises

Thank you Gino Thank you Jim Thank you Jack I really appreciate it Thank you You're the best I am a singer I work at night

I stand in front of you and hold my notes up to the light I tune up all my secrets and hang them on my voice

I have no other talent I have no other talent. I have no other choice. I am a singer. I do the balance. I do the blues. You know, no matter what, I got a song for you to use. I step inside my feelings and spread my story out.

And when the chorus calls me, it proves without a doubt, I am a singer. I remember every melody that ever danced my way. From last night's solo concert to my part in a high school play. I remember every songbook that I lived through page by page, and how I came to love you once you let me on the stage I'm a singer I sing your songs I bring the words to life And keep the beat where it belongs

I work for your attention and wait for your applause You have me by my music and I need your love because I am a singer I am a sinner I am a sinner I am a sinner you