A Night with Buddy Greco
Recently Monica and I finally caught Buddy Greco live on stage (8/19). He was on our "list" - legendary lounge singers we've always wanted to see perform in person. Buddy was performing a two-night stand at the Rrazz Room in the Hotel Nikko in San Francisco (where we've seen Keely Smith twice, as well as Lynda Carter). It's a plush, intimate, swank little venue that recalls the supper clubs of yesteryear, a perfect showcase for this kind of timeless talent. It turned out to be an even more spectacular and memorable evening than we'd imagined...
For one thing, we ran into two of our favorite like-minded swingin' couples:
Johnny and Gin
Aaron and Marci
Johnny and Ginger Atomic, and Aaron and Marci of the Church of Sinatra, all decked out to the nines for this rare occasion to see the last of the true lounge singers in action. Joining Buddy (age 83 and still sounding smooth as ever) was his son, Buddy Jr., and his sexy torch-singing wife, Lezlie Anders. Buddy talked about his musical influences and ambitions growing up in South Philly (he prefers Geno's to Pat's cheesesteak, he told me later) and he played sizzling jazz piano while his wife did some smokin' Peggy Lee and other traditional tunes. Buddy Jr. played some mean drums, while Buddy Sr. offered many of his famous staples including "The Lady is a Tramp," "All Around the World" and "I Love Being Here With You." Sadly, his Palm Springs nightclub recently folded, so they may be taking the show to London - permanently. So we had to make the most of this special night while we could. And boy, did we ever.
Buddy's babes
2 bombshells - Lez and Monica
with Buddy Jr.After the gig, Buddy came out and signed CDs, along with Lezlie and Buddy Jr. All ere very friendly and accessible, posing for pictures, chatting, and then hanging out in the bar with us. It was surreal. This guy is Lounge Lizard Royalty. For people like us, it was like a backstage pass at a Rolling Stones concert. This was a a Lounge Lizard's dream come true. Cheers!
