American band Gary Lewis and the Playboys performing on the set of a television show, circa ... [+]
Gary Lewis and the Playboys were an American rock group from the sixties, with seven straight top-10 hits. Their best-known, This Diamond Ring, reached No. 1 on the Billboard 100 charts on February 20, 1965, knocking The Beatles Eight Days A Week from the top spot. The band also appeared a half-dozen times on the then-popular Ed Sullivan Show.
We caught up with drummer/vocalist Gary Lewis, son of the late comedian Jerry Lewis, for some perspective on his band - and on that time period. Lewis, 74, via phone from his Rochester, New York, home, was gracious, funny - and incredibly well-versed on the topics. Following are edited excerpts from Part 1 of a longer conversation. Lewis discussed how he learned to play drums, his appearances on The Ed Sullivan Show, meeting The Beatles and more.
Jim Clash: You sing and play several musical instruments. How did you learn to play the drums?
Gary Lewis: When I was five years old, my dad had this friend who always came over. We had drums set up in a different part of the house, and this guy would say, "Hey kid, come over to the drums with me. Let me show you some stuff." This went on for seven years. Finally, I realized that this friend of my dad's was Buddy Rich. So I had seven years of lessons from Buddy Rich, and never knew who he was [laughs]!
Clash: You were on The Ed Sullivan Show. What was that like?
Lewis: We were on six times. When we first got booked to debut This Diamond Ring to the country, my dad told me that people worked their entire careers to get on The Ed Sullivan Show, so treat this like it's one of the most important things you'll ever do. And it was. Everybody tuned in at eight o'clock on Sunday night.
Clash: Was the music live or lip-sync'd?
Lewis: The show was live, but in the sixties, TV shows didn't have the capability to mix sound well, so they wanted the bands to lip-sync. It's easy to do, and you don't have to worry about making any mistakes [laughs].
Gary Lewis (center) with his band in the 21st Century.
Clash: How do you sync your vocals so well with the recorded track? In the videos I watched, you are spot-on.
Lewis: Well, I'm good at it [laughs]. No, I don't really know what to say to that. It came so easily - I never even thought about it.
Clash: What was Ed like as a person?
Lewis: Pretty weird. My dad used to make jokes about Ed. He would say, "I spoke to Ed Sullivan the other day through his interpreter." Ed would say some crazy things. I'll give you one good example. We always did a dress rehearsal with an audience, in the afternoon, before the actual show. Ed got up and said, "Ladies and gentlemen, let's have a wonderful hand for Jerry Lewis' son and his combo." Of course, the music started, so we had to keep going. But afterwards, I went to Mr. Sullivan and told him that the name of the band was Gary Lewis and the Playboys. I asked if he could please say that at showtime. He said, "Oh yeah, oh yeah, okay." At showtime, he did say it right. But man, that just floored me. Think about it: Ed was a columnist. He wasn't really a show-biz guy. I don't know how that show even happened. He introduced everybody exactly the same way. He wasn't very exciting, but it was his show, and everybody loved it.
Clash: What was the deal with all of the screaming girls?
Lewis: We liked it because that's what The Beatles got. So when we got it, too, we thought, "Oh man, this is great. We've made it." But really, that's the main reason The Beatles stopped touring. They could never do any of their good songs. They just had to do straight-ahead rock n' roll tunes like Roll Over Beethoven, standard three-chord songs, because nobody could hear over the screaming. They couldn't hear themselves, either, and they just got tired of it.
Clash: Did you ever meet The Beatles?
Lewis: Yeah, twice. I went to see them right after This Diamond Ring went to No. 1 in the country, at the Hollywood Bowl in 1965. I was watching the show, really digging it, even though I couldn't hear them; it was deafening. But somebody must have told somebody that I was in the audience, because afterwards they brought me backstage. I was like, "Oh my God, are you kidding me?" So I went back and [Paul] McCartney looked at me and said, "Hey man, nice suit." I had my Beatles suit on, you know with the black velvet collar and cuffs. I thought I was in heaven. They were nice guys. They were hurrying up to get out of there, but I did get to shake their hands, and that was it.
Clash: How about the second time?
Lewis: They did a garden party in summertime 1966, I think, in Bel Air, California. I went to that, and afterward there was a long line walking through, shaking hands with them. I had my Beatles suit on again, and McCartney remembered that and said, "Nice suit," again. I've got a photo taken standing in-between all of The Beatles, and it's on my website. It's a great picture.
Clash: So they didn't say anything about This Diamond Ring knocking them from the No. 1 position on the charts?
Lewis: No, they didn't. I don't think they had to worry too much [laughs]. The high points of my life were doing Ed Sullivan, and meeting The Beatles.
Clash: Your dad, of course, was a famous comedian. What led you to pursue music over comedy?
Lewis: If I did pursue comedy, I never would have had my own identity. And I knew that. My dad, I always thought, was the best in his field. Why would I want to try it and be mediocre? Besides, I had music in me. My mom was singing with Jimmy Dorsey’s band up until her eighth month pregnant with me. I probably heard that music in the womb [laughs].
