WEBVTT - Danny Bennett 0:00:06.120 --> 0:00:09.319 This is Alec Baldwin and you're listening to Here's the thing. 0:00:11.240 --> 0:00:18.200 She gets too hungry for dinner at She loves the theater, 0:00:19.160 --> 0:00:28.240 but she never comes late. Never people. That's why this 0:00:28.520 --> 0:00:34.240 chick is a trump She does it like. That's Tony 0:00:34.280 --> 0:00:39.240 Bennett and the woman singing with him. Lady Gaga Duets Too, 0:00:39.479 --> 0:00:42.520 which featured Bennett singing with the likes of Lady Gaga, 0:00:42.800 --> 0:00:46.720 Carrie Underwood, and Amy Winehouse, debuted at number one on 0:00:46.800 --> 0:00:51.040 the Billboard two chart. Tony Bennett was eighty five years old, 0:00:51.400 --> 0:00:55.400 the oldest living artist to debut at number one. Tony 0:00:55.440 --> 0:00:59.600 Bennett is an exceptional talent with old school charm. But 0:00:59.720 --> 0:01:03.240 this order resurgence doesn't just happen. It was the result 0:01:03.280 --> 0:01:06.080 of thirty years of hard work from his son and 0:01:06.240 --> 0:01:10.640 manager my guest today, Danny Bennett. Danny says, I don't 0:01:10.680 --> 0:01:14.440 just handle a career, I manage a legacy out of 0:01:14.680 --> 0:01:18.240 the tree of life. I just picked me a plum. 0:01:21.880 --> 0:01:30.240 You came along and everything started to hung And it 0:01:30.360 --> 0:01:32.920 was Danny who helped bring his dad's music to a 0:01:32.959 --> 0:01:36.959 younger generation. Danny got Tony on Saturday Night Live, The 0:01:37.040 --> 0:01:40.600 Simpsons at Late Night with Conan O'Brien. And it wasn't 0:01:40.640 --> 0:01:43.200 just the music. He put his dad on a budget. 0:01:43.440 --> 0:01:48.160 He stabilized his father's finances. Danny Bennett was a musician himself, 0:01:48.240 --> 0:01:51.400 but found he had a greater knack for business. Last 0:01:51.440 --> 0:01:54.160 year he produced a film called The Zen of Bennett, 0:01:54.240 --> 0:01:59.640 which followed his dad throughout the recording of the Duets album. 0:01:59.800 --> 0:02:02.400 That cool. You know your father built this building. You 0:02:02.400 --> 0:02:06.000 know that because every record but to number one and 0:02:06.160 --> 0:02:09.320 actually made Capitol wick as possible. They do call it 0:02:09.400 --> 0:02:15.920 the house that that bill. I think it's great. Danny 0:02:15.960 --> 0:02:18.959 was used to hanging around these performers. He grew up 0:02:19.160 --> 0:02:22.080 surrounded by musical giants. I was born in the Bronx, 0:02:22.200 --> 0:02:24.079 raised in Englewood, New Jersey. And you grew up in 0:02:24.080 --> 0:02:25.960 the Bronx to you were how old? No, just like 0:02:26.200 --> 0:02:28.239 you know, like two weeks quickly, and then you guys 0:02:28.240 --> 0:02:32.280 went to Anglewood, Englewood, New Jersey. Englewood was an amazing place. 0:02:32.360 --> 0:02:35.720 It's it's literally fifteen minutes from midtown, right across the 0:02:35.760 --> 0:02:40.119 George Washington Bridge. And I was born in nineteen nine now, 0:02:40.720 --> 0:02:43.200 and it was a very exciting time. You had um 0:02:43.280 --> 0:02:46.839 a lot of artists from kind of the show biz thing. 0:02:47.480 --> 0:02:51.519 There was Tony, there was Dick Shawn, Joey Bishop, Um, 0:02:51.800 --> 0:02:54.760 Buddy Hackett. They were just right there because they would 0:02:54.800 --> 0:02:57.440 just Tony would come and do his sessions in the 0:02:57.520 --> 0:03:01.799 city at Columbia Studios, and then the jam session would 0:03:01.800 --> 0:03:04.440 continue in my house. Uh So they were just like, hey, 0:03:04.520 --> 0:03:05.919 let's go back to the house. He had like a 0:03:05.919 --> 0:03:08.600 little studio. And when I say the basement, it was 0:03:08.919 --> 0:03:10.919 you know, above ground basement kind of thing. You know, 0:03:10.960 --> 0:03:12.840 as a little kid, I wake up to the streams 0:03:12.880 --> 0:03:17.040 of like you know, you know, count basing and just 0:03:17.160 --> 0:03:19.880 amazing stuff. So when you were a kid, I suppose 0:03:20.000 --> 0:03:23.000 most people would assume all those your childhood memories of 0:03:23.080 --> 0:03:26.960 being a wash in music of that period. Well, you know, 0:03:27.360 --> 0:03:30.400 it's I often say now, like I feel like Forrest Gump. 0:03:30.639 --> 0:03:33.520 I mean, I don't know why I had an appreciation 0:03:33.880 --> 0:03:36.760 for the moment as a kid. I just did. It 0:03:36.880 --> 0:03:40.760 wasn't just music. Besides being able to sit on the 0:03:40.760 --> 0:03:44.280 piano stool with Duke Ellington. I mean, that's crazy. But 0:03:44.360 --> 0:03:47.840 I remember sitting on my dad's lap at a political 0:03:47.960 --> 0:03:50.760 rally with JFK running for president, you know, at the 0:03:50.760 --> 0:03:54.839 Teaneck Armory. He's sitting in back, there's Jack Kennedy giving 0:03:54.840 --> 0:03:57.280 a speech, and I'm seeing all the placards, you know. 0:03:57.320 --> 0:03:59.840 So it's like I'm always seeing the backside of things, 0:04:00.760 --> 0:04:05.400 which is an interesting perspective because it's it's just that 0:04:05.520 --> 0:04:10.680 image burned in my brain. What was like nine years old, Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, 0:04:11.000 --> 0:04:14.120 And so it's those kind of things, or Lewis Armstrong 0:04:14.200 --> 0:04:17.200 and Carol Channing at the White House. You know, it's like, 0:04:17.760 --> 0:04:21.320 what's that? Or so people who sang standards and sang 0:04:22.120 --> 0:04:25.159 whether they were Broadway tunes or there were standards by 0:04:25.320 --> 0:04:27.960 the Harold Arleans of the world and so forth. But 0:04:28.120 --> 0:04:31.040 music for you, your personal music was dad going to 0:04:31.080 --> 0:04:33.760 the studio with Count Basie and you had an electric guitar, 0:04:33.839 --> 0:04:36.360 nam and you were singing Strawberry Fields. Oh yeah. I 0:04:36.360 --> 0:04:38.360 mean when I was ten years old, the Beatles hit 0:04:38.800 --> 0:04:40.760 and that was it for me and my brother who 0:04:40.760 --> 0:04:43.560 plays drums. Immediately, I found an old guitar in my 0:04:43.640 --> 0:04:46.320 dad's closet, and he's been trying to learn guitar for 0:04:46.360 --> 0:04:50.520 a long time, so I grabbed He's gonna get event No, 0:04:50.800 --> 0:04:53.800 he's gonna get it eventually. I'm telling you anyway, it 0:04:53.880 --> 0:04:56.960 was like a guy nylon string guitar and he had 0:04:56.960 --> 0:05:00.320 a book of chords, one of those like things, and 0:05:00.440 --> 0:05:04.200 I just I was so obsessing me. We're introducing the 0:05:04.200 --> 0:05:07.000 Beatles record, and I put the needle down and then 0:05:07.040 --> 0:05:10.040 like like go through the book and just like match 0:05:10.120 --> 0:05:12.520 the chord with the sound of the record. Oh it's 0:05:12.520 --> 0:05:14.240 a jeep chord, you know, It's like And that's how 0:05:14.279 --> 0:05:16.480 I learned, you know, by year how to play what 0:05:16.520 --> 0:05:19.600 was the name of your band, um Quacky Duck, right, 0:05:19.680 --> 0:05:23.080 And so you and your brother and you have Cracky 0:05:23.160 --> 0:05:25.760 Duck and you're how old, um, well were like sixteen, 0:05:26.279 --> 0:05:29.920 you're teenagers like old garage manage or teenagers. And then 0:05:30.040 --> 0:05:32.880 but at that same time, do you still have like 0:05:32.960 --> 0:05:36.080 this kind of bicameral relationship with music. There's your dad 0:05:36.760 --> 0:05:38.600 and his music, and that's a presence in your life 0:05:38.600 --> 0:05:39.919 and you have and you have a fondest for it 0:05:40.320 --> 0:05:42.440 of course, and an appreciation for it. And then you're 0:05:42.440 --> 0:05:45.040 playing your Yeah, I mean some people don't know if 0:05:45.040 --> 0:05:48.120 it's Gerald that can call um Lewis armstrong. I mean 0:05:48.160 --> 0:05:51.360 these are huge royalty and huge influences on us. And 0:05:51.400 --> 0:05:55.159 then obviously. You know, we all have our icons. You know, 0:05:55.200 --> 0:05:58.520 Tony has got has his icons and and rightfully, so 0:05:58.640 --> 0:06:00.599 we're gonna get to that. Yeah yeah, but but but 0:06:00.640 --> 0:06:04.760 you're there, and what happens as you finished high school? 0:06:05.279 --> 0:06:09.719 Is there a time that you put down musical Well, 0:06:09.760 --> 0:06:12.800 I mean we were extremely serious about it, you know, 0:06:12.920 --> 0:06:15.000 when it was like when you rehearsed on the week. 0:06:15.040 --> 0:06:16.960 You know, it's like in school. We did it. And 0:06:17.000 --> 0:06:19.839 then it's interesting because we were never kind of into sports, 0:06:19.880 --> 0:06:22.200 and that's what we did at a very early age. 0:06:22.560 --> 0:06:25.400 You know, we were doing like high school dances and 0:06:25.400 --> 0:06:27.520 and and really, I gotta be honest with you, I 0:06:27.520 --> 0:06:29.920 haven't learned much since then. You know, we learned how 0:06:29.920 --> 0:06:31.560 to like, oh, in a minute, you know what we're 0:06:31.600 --> 0:06:34.680 selling tickets? You know. I remember going, you know, the 0:06:34.720 --> 0:06:37.120 student union. You'd get paid two hundred bucks, which was 0:06:37.200 --> 0:06:39.680 great in the sixties and there's a lot of money. 0:06:39.760 --> 0:06:41.479 So we we we kind of made it on our own, 0:06:41.560 --> 0:06:45.280 and the student unions go um two and in Boxton, 0:06:45.480 --> 0:06:49.039 and I'm like, we're selling the tickets like to this show. 0:06:49.360 --> 0:06:52.120 So I would go to the student unions and go, hey, look, 0:06:52.880 --> 0:06:54.320 I'll tell you what you know what, you guys are 0:06:54.320 --> 0:06:55.880 always on the line. You don't know if you're gonna 0:06:55.880 --> 0:06:59.320 make any money. No, no guarantee. We'll take a cut 0:06:59.320 --> 0:07:02.280 of the door. We'll take a do you take twenty? 0:07:02.440 --> 0:07:04.960 And I was like where this is the high school? 0:07:05.120 --> 0:07:07.240 High school? And so they're going like, oh, you know 0:07:07.720 --> 0:07:09.520 that's cool, great, Yeah, we don't have to worry when 0:07:09.560 --> 0:07:11.440 you get her ask kicked at the end of the night, 0:07:11.760 --> 0:07:16.520 I'm makings and they're going like, wain a minute, you know. 0:07:16.600 --> 0:07:18.640 So then I just kind of like went from one 0:07:18.760 --> 0:07:22.160 school to another, UM and finished high school and where'd 0:07:22.200 --> 0:07:25.000 you go? Um? We had to deal with Warner Brothers Records, 0:07:25.000 --> 0:07:27.640 and we used to play Max's Kansas City and you 0:07:27.680 --> 0:07:29.760 know with I mean Graham Parsons. I don't know if 0:07:29.760 --> 0:07:31.720 you know Graham. He was a good friend of ours. 0:07:31.720 --> 0:07:33.840 We toured with him, and you know we were like 0:07:33.880 --> 0:07:36.360 those who are our heroes UM at the time. And 0:07:36.360 --> 0:07:38.880 that's where I met Bonnie and John Prine, and you know, 0:07:38.920 --> 0:07:42.119 I had this kind of really extraordinary wealth because also 0:07:42.960 --> 0:07:45.720 his original tour manager was a guy named d Anthony. 0:07:46.160 --> 0:07:50.600 He ended up being the penultimate like rock manager and 0:07:50.800 --> 0:07:55.760 invented the triumph and of promoter Bill Graham, d Anthony 0:07:55.840 --> 0:07:59.360 and the agent uh Frank Barcelona, and they brought all 0:07:59.360 --> 0:08:02.320 these artists in from England and we spent I was 0:08:02.440 --> 0:08:05.320 raised at Fillmore. We were kind of an art band. 0:08:05.400 --> 0:08:08.000 We played at Max's with the Modern Lovers and the 0:08:08.040 --> 0:08:10.920 New York Dolls and and and we just said, let's 0:08:10.960 --> 0:08:13.360 come up with the most ridiculous name we can possibly 0:08:13.360 --> 0:08:16.080 come up with, because we thought the Beatles was kind 0:08:16.120 --> 0:08:18.400 of a ridiculous name, right, So we were kind of 0:08:18.400 --> 0:08:21.000 making fun of that. So we were serious about that, 0:08:21.160 --> 0:08:23.440 working built studios and did that kind of thing, and 0:08:23.440 --> 0:08:26.840 it just got to a point where you know, you 0:08:26.880 --> 0:08:28.400 know when you got it and you know when you don't. 0:08:29.040 --> 0:08:31.720 I was always so enamored by especially the people I 0:08:31.760 --> 0:08:34.400 worked with in other writers in my band. I'd go 0:08:34.520 --> 0:08:37.240 like I was kind of really good at like saying wow, 0:08:37.280 --> 0:08:39.760 that's a great song. And I found that like that 0:08:39.880 --> 0:08:44.280 was my real talent. You know. Yeah. And then when 0:08:44.360 --> 0:08:48.440 does one day someone say, Danny, it's you. You're going 0:08:48.480 --> 0:08:52.160 to start becoming involved in this big well, you know, 0:08:52.200 --> 0:08:56.040 it's interesting and it's happening in a day, happen well 0:08:56.480 --> 0:08:59.200 kind of and I can pinpoint when Tony kind of 0:08:59.240 --> 0:09:01.600 got on like, wait a minute, he may know what's 0:09:01.600 --> 0:09:04.280 going on. The Beatles for me was you know, I 0:09:04.320 --> 0:09:06.520 was obsessed not only the art of it, but the 0:09:06.679 --> 0:09:09.840 you know, the social aspect of it, the marketing of it. 0:09:09.960 --> 0:09:13.240 Marketing was fun. It wasn't a bad word. The balance 0:09:13.280 --> 0:09:15.200 between art and commerce. It was very much about what 0:09:15.240 --> 0:09:17.840 this an event it is about. It's always been interesting 0:09:17.880 --> 0:09:21.439 to me. The Beatles always thought the two minutes and 0:09:21.640 --> 0:09:25.760 forty seconds that they had that was their canvas and 0:09:25.960 --> 0:09:29.240 how best to make that work. I love that concept. 0:09:29.480 --> 0:09:32.760 I love the constraints. Well, Tony always says there's free form. 0:09:32.800 --> 0:09:35.080 You gotta learn form before you can be free and 0:09:35.120 --> 0:09:37.480 there's there's a lot to that. You know, they couldn't 0:09:37.480 --> 0:09:40.400 have done Hey Jude without doing all those great songs 0:09:40.440 --> 0:09:42.840 that boom there they are, don't for us get to 0:09:42.880 --> 0:09:46.760 the chorus, but but still maintain the art. So moving 0:09:46.840 --> 0:09:50.240 into a time when Tony was um again, we grew 0:09:50.280 --> 0:09:53.520 up around the you know, it was just immersed so 0:09:53.760 --> 0:09:56.560 you know, the dinner table, the conversations were about what 0:09:56.679 --> 0:09:59.920 was happening at Columbia Records. Oh my god. Clive Davis, 0:10:00.520 --> 0:10:03.880 he was you know, became President of Colombia, the first attorney. 0:10:03.920 --> 0:10:06.679 It was a freaky thing. It was very tuned into that. 0:10:06.760 --> 0:10:10.040 You know. Um, Sinatra didn't make either any of his 0:10:10.120 --> 0:10:13.920 daughters or his son his right hand man. Well, that 0:10:13.920 --> 0:10:18.160 would have never happened. We don't wanta have to go there. 0:10:18.240 --> 0:10:21.560 But your dad did. Yeah. Well he was at a 0:10:21.600 --> 0:10:24.600 point where the thing at Columbia they tried to you know, 0:10:24.720 --> 0:10:27.280 this happened to everyone, Sirnatra, Barbara stra you know, it 0:10:27.360 --> 0:10:30.559 was like, oh you gotta w beads and singing, Barbara Strice, 0:10:30.640 --> 0:10:33.520 and they tried to get Barbara to sing Bob Dylan tunes. 0:10:33.920 --> 0:10:37.280 I mean in nineteen sixty nine. I mean she's listening 0:10:37.280 --> 0:10:41.280 to Dylan going like, what's this? You know, while in 0:10:41.440 --> 0:10:48.240 the winds. The answer is belowing in the wind you know, 0:10:48.280 --> 0:10:50.920 brilliant idea. That's a great one. Let's go again, Barbara. 0:10:51.720 --> 0:10:54.720 So anyway, so Tony actually, you know, worked with Climbing 0:10:54.760 --> 0:10:56.559 and he did an album that was kind of like 0:10:56.679 --> 0:10:59.679 that thing, and it got physically sick. He said, he 0:10:59.720 --> 0:11:03.320 was like regurgitating between takes. And so well, that's a 0:11:03.360 --> 0:11:06.920 great story that he tells about Clive Davis. Right, um, 0:11:07.000 --> 0:11:09.920 where Duke Yellington went in and said, you know, he 0:11:10.000 --> 0:11:11.839 thought he was going in to get a raise, and 0:11:11.880 --> 0:11:14.800 Clive Davis said, well, I have some bad news for you. 0:11:15.280 --> 0:11:19.120 And he goes, uh, what is it? And Clive said, well, 0:11:19.160 --> 0:11:22.839 we're gonna have to drop you from the label. Ellington goes, well, why, 0:11:22.960 --> 0:11:27.000 says well, you're not selling enough records, and Ellington goes, oh, 0:11:27.200 --> 0:11:29.440 I guess I hadn't. I was mistaken. I thought I 0:11:29.440 --> 0:11:31.240 was supposed to make the records and you were supposed 0:11:31.240 --> 0:11:34.200 to sell them. It's a great that's my edict. Like, 0:11:34.240 --> 0:11:38.360 and I've heard that story, but that's every artist, you know. 0:11:39.160 --> 0:11:41.000 That was my said to me, why do I hate 0:11:41.040 --> 0:11:43.440 making movies? And I said, and I said, do you 0:11:43.440 --> 0:11:45.559 really hate making movies? I said, well, maybe hates a 0:11:45.600 --> 0:11:47.880 strong word, but I said, I'm very uncomfortable. They say why, 0:11:47.880 --> 0:11:51.040 I say, because you just feel the hand of commerce 0:11:51.080 --> 0:11:53.720 at your throat every day. Every day. It's never free. 0:11:53.920 --> 0:11:56.720 It's really fun, it can be challenging, but you just 0:11:56.840 --> 0:12:01.560 feel like every dimes. Yeah, so they wanted your dad 0:12:01.760 --> 0:12:06.199 to do what he couldn't do and he rebels against 0:12:06.200 --> 0:12:07.920 that and he just kind of like they gave him 0:12:07.920 --> 0:12:09.400 a big contract and he was like, no, I don't 0:12:09.400 --> 0:12:11.880 want to do this. I want to start my own label. Now. 0:12:12.000 --> 0:12:14.000 This is at a time when people weren't doing that. 0:12:14.280 --> 0:12:15.960 I mean, you know, I mean, you know, Sinatra did 0:12:16.000 --> 0:12:17.560 it with more Austin, but it was done more on 0:12:17.600 --> 0:12:22.360 a you know, Warner Brothers thing um. And he found 0:12:22.760 --> 0:12:25.920 Jack rawlins Um what the Allen's manager, and you know 0:12:26.080 --> 0:12:29.360 a number of other people, great people to work with 0:12:29.440 --> 0:12:32.000 him on on a label called Improv. This is where 0:12:32.040 --> 0:12:34.840 he made the Bell Evans records, you know, voice and piano. 0:12:35.400 --> 0:12:38.080 Those records weren't being made at the time. And so 0:12:38.160 --> 0:12:40.040 he came to me and talked to me about the 0:12:40.120 --> 0:12:43.000 label and I said, well that's a great idea. I said, 0:12:43.040 --> 0:12:45.040 you know, it's it's risky. And he said, well, what's 0:12:45.120 --> 0:12:47.400 risky about it? And I said, well, it doesn't seem 0:12:47.480 --> 0:12:51.800 like they have major distribution in this day and age. 0:12:52.040 --> 0:12:55.120 Independent distribution is great, you can do it internet. But 0:12:55.600 --> 0:12:58.840 then it was a real challenge. I said, Columbia's offering 0:12:58.840 --> 0:13:01.640 you did do a distribution deal, which is a great 0:13:01.800 --> 0:13:03.320 you know, which is great that it's kind of like, 0:13:03.360 --> 0:13:04.840 you know, they leave you alone. You can do what 0:13:04.880 --> 0:13:07.920 you want to do. He had me go talk to 0:13:07.960 --> 0:13:10.200 the guy who's running the company in Buffalo. He said, 0:13:10.240 --> 0:13:11.600 we'll go talk to him. Now, you know, I got 0:13:11.640 --> 0:13:13.920 the long hair in a fringe jacket and I and 0:13:14.000 --> 0:13:16.200 I go to this you know, this got this hotel 0:13:16.280 --> 0:13:18.440 owner in Buffalo. And I'm sitting there and he's like, 0:13:18.480 --> 0:13:21.760 what is this about? And I started talking about the distribution. 0:13:22.240 --> 0:13:25.079 It's great, da da boom. And there's some other things 0:13:25.080 --> 0:13:26.920 about the contract that I didn't like that I told 0:13:27.000 --> 0:13:28.760 him about, you know, in terms of him kind of 0:13:28.760 --> 0:13:32.320 getting roped into it. And this guy just rejected that 0:13:32.320 --> 0:13:33.960 whole notion. So I went back to Tony and I 0:13:33.960 --> 0:13:37.520 just said, look, I wouldn't do this. I think there's 0:13:37.800 --> 0:13:41.079 you know, no improv records. Well no, he did it. 0:13:42.040 --> 0:13:44.640 And how long did that last? It lasted like three 0:13:44.720 --> 0:13:48.160 years and they failed because of the distribution. So he 0:13:48.240 --> 0:13:51.240 does improv records and then because he can't get the 0:13:51.280 --> 0:13:55.199 records distributed exactly. And so that's what I told him. 0:13:55.240 --> 0:13:58.719 He remembered that, and then the label folded and then 0:13:58.720 --> 0:14:02.480 he was without a contract for how long? Um, let's see, Alex, 0:14:04.160 --> 0:14:08.480 I would say three years. Was that like four years? Um? Well, 0:14:08.520 --> 0:14:11.000 it's tough because remember at the time. This is like 0:14:11.080 --> 0:14:18.679 around seventy eight. Okay, Sinatra retired number one and streisand's 0:14:18.720 --> 0:14:21.600 doing duets with the bigs. You know what I'm saying. Yeah, 0:14:21.640 --> 0:14:23.480 you know what I'm saying. So like there's that he 0:14:23.520 --> 0:14:25.560 didn't want to do it, and then he was in 0:14:25.680 --> 0:14:27.920 Vegas and then those days you were doing Vegas, like 0:14:27.960 --> 0:14:30.280 you know, the thirty two week thing and all that 0:14:30.320 --> 0:14:32.440 time stuff. You know. He just called me up one 0:14:32.520 --> 0:14:34.320 day and it was just like, I don't you know, 0:14:34.880 --> 0:14:36.800 I need some help here. I don't know what to do. 0:14:36.960 --> 0:14:40.280 I don't know where to go. He didn't have a manager. Um. 0:14:40.400 --> 0:14:43.720 He wanted to be able to do his art on 0:14:43.880 --> 0:14:47.640 his terms. Um, And it was Vegas Like for him, 0:14:47.640 --> 0:14:49.880 what what? What? What is that like for someone? Because 0:14:49.880 --> 0:14:53.840 I mean, you always figure. I remember reading Nick Tash's 0:14:53.880 --> 0:14:56.040 book Dino about Dean Martin, one of the one of 0:14:56.040 --> 0:15:00.840 the best biographies I've ever and they talked about how Martin, 0:15:01.000 --> 0:15:03.400 at one point in the sixties I believe was the 0:15:03.440 --> 0:15:06.960 highest paid entertainer in the world because he had the 0:15:07.360 --> 0:15:09.600 he touched every base, he touched all four bases, he 0:15:09.640 --> 0:15:12.240 had a television show, he had a recording contract, he 0:15:12.360 --> 0:15:15.600 started in films, and he appeared live in Vegas in 0:15:15.640 --> 0:15:18.080 another concerts, and he was making millions and millions of 0:15:18.120 --> 0:15:21.240 dollars back then. And I was wondering for someone like 0:15:21.400 --> 0:15:23.560 your dad where I'm not going to say that I 0:15:23.800 --> 0:15:27.320 actually I don't know what Vegas exemplified back then, like 0:15:27.360 --> 0:15:29.920 for an actor. Was that like being on a game 0:15:29.960 --> 0:15:33.680 show or no, no, no no, But I mean the 0:15:34.080 --> 0:15:38.520 idea that you know, this is where they cut their teeth, 0:15:38.680 --> 0:15:42.240 the lounges, you know, Louis Prima in the lounge he 0:15:42.360 --> 0:15:45.000 had a Freda stare, and Carrie Grant going to see 0:15:45.040 --> 0:15:47.520 Sinatra and then going to the lounge, you know, and 0:15:47.560 --> 0:15:49.680 this is where the audience was like, you know, and 0:15:49.720 --> 0:15:53.120 Tony makes a good point. These people. We didn't have 0:15:53.160 --> 0:15:56.240 access to these people except the big screen, and all 0:15:56.280 --> 0:15:59.920 of a sudden, there they are sitting there watching Louis Prima, 0:16:00.680 --> 0:16:04.520 rubbing shoulders with with Sinatra and Jerry Grant and whatever. 0:16:05.080 --> 0:16:08.480 This was magic and for for again, for Tony. You 0:16:08.480 --> 0:16:11.680 gotta remember, Tony's ten years younger than all these guys. 0:16:11.720 --> 0:16:14.880 These are his idols, you know, Sinatra calling him the kid, 0:16:15.720 --> 0:16:18.040 you know, um, And there he is with them all 0:16:18.320 --> 0:16:22.400 spread a stair. I mean, like it was a salon 0:16:22.560 --> 0:16:26.720 so so, and nobody messed around for the very you know, 0:16:26.760 --> 0:16:29.240 for the obvious reasons. And then you got into the 0:16:29.280 --> 0:16:32.160 kind of this this evolution where you know, the Suma 0:16:32.240 --> 0:16:34.760 Corporation and Howard Hughes took over, and like I had 0:16:34.800 --> 0:16:38.240 to negotiate with like Howard Hughes and these cowboys. It 0:16:38.320 --> 0:16:42.040 was really interesting. It was amazing, you know. I mean, 0:16:42.080 --> 0:16:44.320 like and this is where like Tony when I first 0:16:44.320 --> 0:16:46.960 started working, and like, you know, Howard uses on the 0:16:47.000 --> 0:16:49.000 top of the desert end. I mean, I know he's 0:16:49.040 --> 0:16:51.440 up there. And so there was like, you know this 0:16:51.480 --> 0:16:54.160 guy named Lenny, you know that he'd go in with 0:16:54.200 --> 0:16:57.080 me to negotiate the contract. And Lenny get on his 0:16:57.120 --> 0:17:02.000 hands and knees, going seriously and I'm going, what are 0:17:02.000 --> 0:17:04.680 you doing, and like get off your knees. I'm not 0:17:04.720 --> 0:17:06.639 gonna get on my knees and big for a contract. 0:17:06.680 --> 0:17:08.639 I'm just not gonna do it, you know. And the 0:17:08.720 --> 0:17:11.720 guy it's just saying down you get down on your knees. 0:17:12.320 --> 0:17:16.400 How it works. Mr Hughes. Yeah, yeah. And he's got 0:17:16.400 --> 0:17:18.280 the big the guys behind the desk with a big 0:17:18.280 --> 0:17:21.080 cowboy hat, and I'm like, oh my goah. So I 0:17:21.080 --> 0:17:23.240 go to Tony and and here's a very interesting thing. 0:17:24.480 --> 0:17:27.320 I'm sitting outside the desert and just like you know, 0:17:28.000 --> 0:17:31.000 I'm in a bench, some dude comes and sits next 0:17:31.000 --> 0:17:34.520 to me, an older guy, and he's grumbling. And I 0:17:34.600 --> 0:17:37.480 turned around and he's like, I'm never coming back to 0:17:37.560 --> 0:17:39.720 Vegas again. Right, he's doing that kind of thing. I'm like, 0:17:39.760 --> 0:17:42.159 what's up. I don't know. You know, they used to 0:17:42.160 --> 0:17:44.240 fly me out here. And he's a bad he's a 0:17:44.359 --> 0:17:47.000 drop fifty grand of pop. But but man, did they 0:17:47.040 --> 0:17:49.680 make me feel good about losing my money? The shows? 0:17:49.760 --> 0:17:52.080 The girls like that he's doing this. He goes, they 0:17:52.119 --> 0:17:54.000 take it all away. Now they don't want to know me. 0:17:54.200 --> 0:17:56.520 He say says, I'm never coming back again. And I 0:17:56.560 --> 0:17:59.520 had an epiphany. I was like, we gotta get out 0:17:59.520 --> 0:18:01.800 of this town. It's going down. So I went to 0:18:01.840 --> 0:18:05.320 Tony and I said to him, here's the gig. You 0:18:05.440 --> 0:18:07.719 gotta get out of this town. I know this is like, 0:18:07.800 --> 0:18:10.080 this is what you go where? And I said, you 0:18:10.200 --> 0:18:16.680 go to the people. We're gonna go to colleges. This 0:18:16.720 --> 0:18:18.640 is the point in which you kind of climb into 0:18:18.640 --> 0:18:21.960 the cockpit with this guy who's this legend, and you're 0:18:22.000 --> 0:18:26.240 twenty five years old. I know what you're teaching me. 0:18:26.280 --> 0:18:28.680 And the conversation is that from the beginning you were 0:18:28.760 --> 0:18:32.760 just saturated and inundated and interested naturally, not just in 0:18:32.920 --> 0:18:35.000 on a creative level, but on a business level as well, 0:18:35.000 --> 0:18:37.520 and on a technical level. Growing up, as you know, 0:18:37.640 --> 0:18:41.720 in that environment where kids were befriending me because the 0:18:41.880 --> 0:18:44.880 parents knew that if they befriended me, maybe they could 0:18:44.920 --> 0:18:47.680 have dinner with Tony at the thing, I developed an 0:18:47.720 --> 0:18:50.359 early sense of like cutting through the crap. You know. 0:18:50.400 --> 0:18:52.360 It's like I knew who my friends were and who 0:18:52.440 --> 0:18:55.760 they weren't. I could tell right away. So I had 0:18:55.800 --> 0:18:59.399 this epiphany and I said, you know what, I'm going 0:18:59.480 --> 0:19:02.480 to run him for president. I'm gonna treat his campaign. 0:19:02.520 --> 0:19:04.960 And I love history too, so I do love and 0:19:05.000 --> 0:19:07.080 I'm like, I'm gonna run. I'm gonna do this like 0:19:07.119 --> 0:19:09.520 I'm running for president. And I went to him and 0:19:09.560 --> 0:19:12.120 I said, you know, presidents would not go to Iowa 0:19:12.359 --> 0:19:14.440 if they didn't have to go to Iowa, and and 0:19:14.440 --> 0:19:17.600 and you know, shake the hands, I go instead of 0:19:17.640 --> 0:19:20.560 having people come to you in Vegas. I said, your 0:19:20.760 --> 0:19:25.840 music transcends, right, and you can't do this with everybody. 0:19:26.119 --> 0:19:28.520 And I and I have an appreciation. You know, I 0:19:28.560 --> 0:19:31.520 watched Tony when you know how many times have seen 0:19:31.520 --> 0:19:35.040 this show. He's reinventing himself. He's really kicking ass. I 0:19:35.040 --> 0:19:38.200 mean in terms of like taking chances. That's really rock 0:19:38.240 --> 0:19:40.600 and roll. He's taking chances. You know, the Rolling Stones 0:19:40.640 --> 0:19:43.800 are getting older, not really taking chances anyway. And here's 0:19:43.840 --> 0:19:47.480 Tony what he calls moving the furniture around, and unlike, 0:19:47.960 --> 0:19:50.639 you know, people just got to see this. There's a 0:19:50.640 --> 0:19:54.879 transcendent quality and great art that that, like he says, 0:19:55.359 --> 0:19:58.639 defies demographics. So I got into that. So it's like 0:19:58.720 --> 0:20:01.719 Letterman was that doing the late so you know, like 0:20:01.800 --> 0:20:05.120 we're you know, we're filing these now. And nobody went 0:20:05.160 --> 0:20:08.320 on that show. But after a few calls on Danny's part, 0:20:08.840 --> 0:20:14.200 Tony did Tony been at Tony? And there were other shows, 0:20:14.760 --> 0:20:20.040 many many others. Look, it's Tony, Hey, good to see you. 0:20:21.359 --> 0:20:25.760 It's good. Charts. When did you first start charting in 0:20:25.800 --> 0:20:28.879 the fifties, Yes, the fifties, sixties, seventies, eighties. You've been 0:20:28.880 --> 0:20:33.560 on the charts every decade, right, is there anybody else 0:20:33.840 --> 0:20:36.800 in history other than like, wait open, is there any 0:20:36.880 --> 0:20:40.240 hey kermen, have you ever sung firefly before? Well? I 0:20:40.280 --> 0:20:41.920 can't say that I have, Tony, but you know I've 0:20:41.960 --> 0:20:44.840 certainly eaten a few. There are a good light snack. 0:20:45.400 --> 0:20:48.560 Oh boy, hey, come on, let's do this. You started off. 0:20:50.720 --> 0:20:57.720 I call her fire fly so much she radiates in 0:20:57.800 --> 0:21:00.399 a minute. Danny Bennett talks about the chat leunge of 0:21:00.480 --> 0:21:03.280 keeping up with his eighty seven year old father. The 0:21:03.320 --> 0:21:05.720 guy doesn't like to take elevators. He takes. He doesn't 0:21:05.720 --> 0:21:08.080 like to take escalators. We go to airports. He's up 0:21:08.080 --> 0:21:11.119 the stairs. I'm Alec Baldwin and you're listening to here's 0:21:11.160 --> 0:21:20.320 the thing. This is Alec Baldwin, my guest. Danny Bennett 0:21:20.400 --> 0:21:23.960 is president of RPM Records and has managed the career 0:21:24.040 --> 0:21:27.920 of RPM's biggest star, his father, Tony Bennett, for over 0:21:28.000 --> 0:21:31.640 thirty years. His dad's career has had its ups and downs. 0:21:31.920 --> 0:21:35.320 The seventies weren't kind to vocalists who weren't interested in 0:21:35.359 --> 0:21:41.280