Well, dear readers, this week has flown by, like a gazelle wearing suspenders and a belt. Being Friday, it is no longer Thursday. That was very metaphysical, wasn’t it? I think over the course of the next few notes I’ll talk about the city that used to be Los Angeles because I had such fun being nostalgic about the Beverly Hills of the past. For example, once upon a time in a galaxy far, far away, there was a magical city called Hollywood. My earliest memory of being taken to the magical city called Hollywood was in 1956, when my parents took us kids to see Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis in Pardners at the Paramount Theater. I may have been there before that, and certainly I’d seen the street on the Hollywood Christmas Parade, but Pardners is what I remember for sure. It opened in summer, which would definitely explain seeing it on a weeknight, which is exactly what I remember. The Paramount was a fantastic movie theater (it’s now the El Capitan), and right across the street was the even more amazing Grauman’s Chinese. After the movie, my parents took us kids to C.C. Brown’s, just across the street and a block west, for a hot fudge sundae, and that began my love affair with C.C. Brown’s that would last until the day they closed their doors – and yes, I was there, not only the day they closed their doors, but the day after, when they had a private do for their most loyal and loved customers, of which I’m proud to say I was at the top of the list.
I know I was taken there other times, but starting in 1959 I began going there regularly, seeing films like Ben-Hur at the Egyptian and movies at the Vogue and by that time I’d been in the Chinese several times, and had seen the very huge Windjammer there. But it was in 1961 that I became a Hollywood regular, going there at least three times a week, via the bus. I saw West Side Story fourteen Saturdays in a row, I saw King of Kings and Mutiny on the Bounty, I saw Days of Thrills and Laughter (a silent film compilation) at the Vogue, I saw The Parent Trap over and over at the Vogue, I saw Seven Wonders of the World in its second time around at the Warner Cinerama (all of this is chronicled in the three Kritzer books), I saw Spartacus at the Pantages. I would arrive in Hollywood by eleven and start at Hollywood and Highland and walk east to Vine, on the north side of the street, stopping along the way at any number of wonderful stores. There was Pickwick Books, there was Phil Harris Records, there was the Vogue, there was Cherokee Books and clothing places and restaurants, including, of course, Musso and Frank, and it was just filled with charm and, for a thirteen-year-old, wonder. When I’d get to Vine, I’d cross over to the south side of the boulevard and walk back to Highland. That had many wonders to, including the Iris Theater, Larry Edmunds bookshop, Bert Wheeler’s House of Magic, the New View Theater, the Las Palmas newsstand, the Las Palmas Theater, Coffee Dan’s (one of the greatest coffee shops in the history of LA – and the first place I ever had what has become completely trendy again – an iceberg lettuce wedge in Roquefort dressing, along with their amazing Dodger burger), the Egyptian, and several big drugstores. There were no Scientology buildings, just quaint little stores dotting the street. On the north side near Highland was Diamond Jim’s restaurant – I became a regular lunch patron there and usually had a shrimp Louis or spaghetti and garlic bread. There were bookstores on side streets, too, and my visits usually included a stop at C.C. Brown’s. When I discovered theater and began attending the Huntington Hartford Theater on Vine, that opened up whole new worlds of wonder – Wallich’s Music City, Sunset and Vine, the Ivar Theater, the Legrand Theater, Frank Sennes’ Moulin Rouge (where I saw and met The Three Stooges), and Carolina Pines coffee shot on Sunset.
I continued doing my Hollywood routine all the way through the 1960s, mostly walking until I got my own car. By the mid-1960s it was changing drastically. At Las Palmas and Hollywood, on the southwest corner you had The Gold Cup, an infamous gay hangout, you had the bikers across the street, you had Magoo’s Pizza, surely the worst pizza joint ever, and the street began taking on a seedy appearance. It was still magical to me, though. I worked for a short time at Pickwick Books in 1965, as well as in the sheet music department at Wallich’s. I knew all the regulars on the boulevard. There was Buffalo Bill (not sure if that was the name he used, but that’s what he looked like – dressed in his costume and walking up and down the boulevard day and night – kind of the unofficial mayor of Hollywood Boulevard), there was a weird little man who used to talk to me all the time at Pickwick – I think he was a little obsessed with me, but I liked him and we had nice chats. Then in the 1970s it really got sleazy and it really began going downhill. Diamond Jim’s bit the dust, Discount Record Center bit the dust (it was on the south side of the boulevard), and several of the bookstores on the side streets bit the dust. But still I went. I became a regular Musso and Frank diner, and there were always, always trips to C.C. Brown’s. The Iris Theater became the Fox and that’s where The First Nudie Musical opened. Hollywood Boulevard could still be exciting – Star Wars brought huge amounts of people back there. By that time, there was a Hamburger Hamlet across the street from the Chinese.
The 1980s were not a good time for Hollywood and I began going less and less frequently. There were still some great bookstores, and great shops, but it had really lost its allure by then. They added two shoebox theaters to the Egyptian. Either the Academy or the Admiral, can’t remember which, bit the dust, the New View became a Pussycat Theater, and it just got worse and worse. Much later, we got the grotesque Hollywood + Highland mall, the subway, the El Capitan courtesy of Disney, but the Hamlet bit the dust, C.C. Brown’s bit the dust (that was really the end for me), but thankfully Musso’s kept on keeping on and is still thankfully doing so. Of course, Coffee Dan’s (there were two on the boulevard) was gone, eventually Pickwick was gone, Cherokee Books was gone, and now we had tattoo parlors and leather shops and it was just disgusting. They seemed bent on only revitalizing west of Highland, while east all the way to Vine remains, to this day, horrible. Funnily, most of the storefronts and buildings are originals from decades ago. Oh, there are a few newer buildings, but nothing like Beverly Hills. So, in that way, it’s still looks kind of the same – but it’s the feel and the sleaze that stops it. Oh, and what has happened is that the trendy club scene hit Hollywood about eight years ago and there are a humungous number of them. The Vogue is a club, the Fox is a club, the Hollywood is Ripley’s Believe It or Not, the gorgeous Egyptian Theater is now the American Cinematheque, the Las Palmas newsstand is still there, there are no drugstores anywhere on the boulevard, but just east of Vine is the incredibly disgusting W hotel, which also tore down and replaced most of the block from Selma to Hollywood Boulevard on Vine. It’s unrecognizable now. The Huntington Hartford is the Ricardo Montalban, Wallich’s Music City is long gone and where it once sat is the total failure called Sunset + Vine.
Wow, that was a trip backwards, wasn’t it? Perhaps I’d better write some notes now. Yesterday turned out to be a very nice day. Nick Redman, his ever-lovin’ Julie Kirgo, and Mike Matessino all came over and we chatted and then went and had lunch. After that, I picked up no annoying mail (thank the Lord), and one little package. Then we had our second rehearsal. As rough as the first was, this one was very smooth. This cast is very prepared and it’s just so much fun for me to sit and listen to beautiful voices singing great music. I gave only a handful of notes, we changed up one key for one singer, and Jason Graae is going to stop the show once again. A huge treat was hearing Kay Cole sing What I Did For Love. It’s a thrill and a half and that voice. Plus it’s really full circle, as Maggie was originally supposed to sing the song, but never got to.
After rehearsal, I had two lo-cal hot dogs and so my entire calorie intake for the day was slightly less than 1000 calories, which is what I wanted to do. Then I had to listen to a lot of music involving several upcoming projects and that was that. Well, why don’t all click on the Unseemly Button below because I must get some beauty sleep or I shall look 103 years old.
Today, I shall finish up the liner notes and get them to the designer. I shall do errands and whatnot, I shall hopefully pick up no annoying mail, hopefully pick up some packages, and hopefully pick up an important envelope. Then I’ll mosey on over the hill and have an early dinner at Kate Mantilini’s with David Wechter, and then we’re going to the Academy to see a little program about James Bond film music. I’m sure I’ll know quite a few people there.
Tomorrow is our stumble-through and then I’ll eat something light but amusing, but there will be no time to visit the book fair in the Dena of Pasa. Sunday is sound check and show, and then next week is very busy with all manner of things.
Well, dear readers, I must take the day, I must do the things I do, I must, for example, finish liner notes, do errands and whatnot, hopefully pick up no annoying mail, some packages, and an important envelope, eat, and attend an event. Today’s topic of discussion: It’s Friday – what is currently in your CD player and your DVD/video player? I’ll start – Blu and Ray, Enemy Mine. CD, too many to mention. Your turn. Let’s have loads of lovely postings, shall we, whilst I hit the road to dreamland where I will be in the Hollywood of my dreams.