Steve Lawrence's 70th Anniversary As Recording Artist
Apr 9, 2022 20:13:51 GMT
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Post by petrolino on Apr 9, 2022 20:13:51 GMT
Steve Lawrence : 70 Years Inside The Recording Studio
Steve Lawrence was born on 8 July, 1935 in Brooklyn, New York City, New York in the United States of America. He got a job as a studio singer at the Brill Building in New York where Brooklyn-born songwriters like Jeff Barry, Neil Diamond, Howard Greenfield, Jack Keller, Barry Mann, Doc Pomus, Teddy Randazzo, Neil Sedaka and Mort Shuman plied their trade. During time spent serving in the United States Army, Lawrence was selected to become the official vocal soloist with the United States Army Band.
“Her fans realize that she was this pivotal figure, even if she never got the sort of journalistic acclaim for how she changed the genre that she should have. Whether she realized it or not, she was basically the first white Latina crossover pop artist. She was basically an ambassador of Latin American music to this country, and she reintroduced these boleros to Latin American audiences."
- David Lawrence (son of Steve Lawrence & Eydie Gorme), AZ Central
Steve Lawrence & Eydie Gorme
'Poinciana' (1952) - Steve Lawrence (his first record to be released?)
In the early 1950s, Steve Lawrence was hired to be a singer on a television show hosted by New York comic Steve Allen. It was while working on 'Tonight Starring Steve Allen' that he first performed alongside Iowan balladeer Andy Williams. He also worked with Eydie Gorme of the Bronx, whom he'd first met at the Brill Building though their interactions had been brief. Lawrence and Gorme formed a musical partnership that would last for many decades, until her death in 2013. Falling in love, they got married in Las Vegas, Nevada in December 1957.
“We’re no different than anyone else. Our disagreements run the gamut from professional to personal. In fact, one of the best shows we ever did came on the heels of a fight we had. I can’t recall what precipitated it. We walked out on stage and we were so hostile to each other. The more venomous it became, the more the audience loved it. When the show was over we were cleansed. It was actually cathartic.”
- Steve Lawrence on working with Eydie Gorme, 'Great Entertainers'
Eydie Gorme, Jerry Lewis & Steve Lawrence
'To The Movies We Go' (1963) - Steve & Eydie
'Black Hole Sun' (1997) - Steve & Eydie
Eydie Gorme was a cousin of pianist Neil Sedaka. She spoke several languages including Spanish and Ladino (Judaeo-Spanish), sometimes performing songs in Spanish. In her early years, she worked as a singer with bandleaders Tommy Tucker, Tex Beneke and Ken Greengrass which gave her a solid grounding in jazz technique. One of her friends from high school was filmmaker Stanley Kubrick.
“My paternal grandparents were born in Istanbul, Turkey, and came to New York around 1910. My father, born on the Lower East Side, drove a taxi for over 30 years in order to put me through The Juilliard School of Music.
Although my upbringing was not Orthodox in nature, nonetheless the feeling within the home was that of a Jewish family with Jewish traditions. As a cohesive family unit, my wife and children attend the High Holidays in New York and it’s an event we look forward to each and every year. I have a great love for Jewish culture, as does my 88-year-old mother Eleanor, who lives and enjoys life in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. A few months ago they featured my biography on A&E and Mom was interviewed, which was a great thrill for all of us.
I am probably one of the more well-known American singers in Israel. In the ’60s, I made several appearances in kibbutzim, as well as in Tel Aviv, Jerusalem and Haifa and I made a few records in Hebrew. To this day, if I go into a cab and the driver is Israeli, they stare at me for a minute or so and say, ‘You look familiar,’ and when I tell them that my name is Neil Sedaka, they tell me, ‘Do you know you are the top singer in Israel?’ And that is always something wonderful to hear! The last time I visited Israel with my wife, my mother and aunt eight years ago, we made many stops in all the major cities.
I am extremely proud to be Jewish. Wherever I go, people tell me that my name, Sedaka, means ‘charity’ in Hebrew and I affirm this to them and tell them of the wonderful feelings I have for my surname. As much as I love Israel and its people, I don’t usually get involved with the politics. However, I feel strongly that this is a time when one should be supportive of Israel. I’m strictly an artist, a creator, a musician. Financially I am a supporter of many Jewish charities and organizations, and I’ve planted many trees in honor of loved ones.
Recently, I produced an album of Yiddish songs which I loved doing and which I find so exciting. And because I always think in musical terms, I came up with these wonderful old Jewish songs that are disappearing from our wonderful culture. These songs are called Brighton Beach Memories – Sedaka sings Yiddish. There are 13 songs such as “Exodus,” “My Yiddishe Mama,” “Mein Shtetele Belz,” “Sunrise, Sunset,” “Ich Hob Dich Tzufil Lieb,” “Bei Mir Bist Du Schoen,” as well as many others that invoke wonderful memories for me.
When I was growing up in Brighton Beach, my mother used to play these Yiddish songs performed by the Barry Sisters. I did a record with a klezmer group which was a labor of love. I made a couple of hundred just to send to my friends and family and, all of a sudden, it has taken on a life of its own. I’m getting so many calls from record labels, from concert halls and theaters asking about this Yiddish album. There is a very big movement of people who love this music. As far as my albums go, we are selling many of them at my concerts and at my appearances.
Once a year I visit Brighton Beach where I go swimming at Bay 3. I make it a point to visit my street sign (Neil Sedaka Way) on the boardwalk on Coney Island Avenue. Then I treat myself to a Nathan’s frankfurter and go on the Cyclone to see if I can still take those drops. I always remember how happy the entire family was when they attended my bar mitzvah at Temple Beth El in the Manhattan Beach area of Brooklyn."
Although my upbringing was not Orthodox in nature, nonetheless the feeling within the home was that of a Jewish family with Jewish traditions. As a cohesive family unit, my wife and children attend the High Holidays in New York and it’s an event we look forward to each and every year. I have a great love for Jewish culture, as does my 88-year-old mother Eleanor, who lives and enjoys life in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. A few months ago they featured my biography on A&E and Mom was interviewed, which was a great thrill for all of us.
I am probably one of the more well-known American singers in Israel. In the ’60s, I made several appearances in kibbutzim, as well as in Tel Aviv, Jerusalem and Haifa and I made a few records in Hebrew. To this day, if I go into a cab and the driver is Israeli, they stare at me for a minute or so and say, ‘You look familiar,’ and when I tell them that my name is Neil Sedaka, they tell me, ‘Do you know you are the top singer in Israel?’ And that is always something wonderful to hear! The last time I visited Israel with my wife, my mother and aunt eight years ago, we made many stops in all the major cities.
I am extremely proud to be Jewish. Wherever I go, people tell me that my name, Sedaka, means ‘charity’ in Hebrew and I affirm this to them and tell them of the wonderful feelings I have for my surname. As much as I love Israel and its people, I don’t usually get involved with the politics. However, I feel strongly that this is a time when one should be supportive of Israel. I’m strictly an artist, a creator, a musician. Financially I am a supporter of many Jewish charities and organizations, and I’ve planted many trees in honor of loved ones.
Recently, I produced an album of Yiddish songs which I loved doing and which I find so exciting. And because I always think in musical terms, I came up with these wonderful old Jewish songs that are disappearing from our wonderful culture. These songs are called Brighton Beach Memories – Sedaka sings Yiddish. There are 13 songs such as “Exodus,” “My Yiddishe Mama,” “Mein Shtetele Belz,” “Sunrise, Sunset,” “Ich Hob Dich Tzufil Lieb,” “Bei Mir Bist Du Schoen,” as well as many others that invoke wonderful memories for me.
When I was growing up in Brighton Beach, my mother used to play these Yiddish songs performed by the Barry Sisters. I did a record with a klezmer group which was a labor of love. I made a couple of hundred just to send to my friends and family and, all of a sudden, it has taken on a life of its own. I’m getting so many calls from record labels, from concert halls and theaters asking about this Yiddish album. There is a very big movement of people who love this music. As far as my albums go, we are selling many of them at my concerts and at my appearances.
Once a year I visit Brighton Beach where I go swimming at Bay 3. I make it a point to visit my street sign (Neil Sedaka Way) on the boardwalk on Coney Island Avenue. Then I treat myself to a Nathan’s frankfurter and go on the Cyclone to see if I can still take those drops. I always remember how happy the entire family was when they attended my bar mitzvah at Temple Beth El in the Manhattan Beach area of Brooklyn."
- Neil Sedaka, Jewish Virtual Library
Eydie Gorme, Steve Lawrence, Neil Sedaka & Leba Strassberg
'My World Keeps Getting Smaller Every Day' (1970) - Eydie Gorme (written for his cousin by Neil Sedaka, in collaboration with Howard Greenfield)
'The Hungry Years' (2014) - Steve Lawrence
Steve Lawrence and Eydie Gorme became regular performers on the Broadway stage in the 1960s. They also worked steadily in television. A generation of comedians in north America picked up on Lawrence's exceptional sense of timing and easygoing comic sensibility. I think he got his first major film role in Jackie Cooper's cult comedy 'Stand Up And Be Counted' (1972), acting alongside Jacqueline Bisset, Stella Stevens and Loretta Swit. He later appeared in John Landis' cult musical 'The Blues Brothers' (1980) and Arthur Hiller's gentle comic fable 'The Lonely Guy' (1984).
“Steve and Eydie represent all that is good about performers and the interpretation of a song . . . they’re the best.”
- Frank Sinatra
Robin Williams, Steve Lawrence & Johnny Carson
In 1995, Eydie Gorme and Steve Lawrence received lifetime achievement awards from the Society Of Singers and the Songwriters Hall Of Fame, in recognition of their work in music across the decades. Today, Lawrence is living with Alzheimer's Disease but he continues to appear chipper in interviews and during public appearances. He says he's extremely thankful for the life he's had.
