A (Brief) Toast to Sidney Liebowitz - aka "Steve Lawrence" (1935-2024)

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(Above: my single favorite video performance by Steve - The Ed Sullivan Show, February 14, 1965. A Classic song of Israel by the Dutch composer Leo Fuld. When was the last time you heard someone croon in Hebrew?)

I take some pride in the fact that I didn’t wait until Steve had left us to sing his praises - I’ve written about him, both as a solo act and as half of the legendary duo of Steve Lawrence and Eydie Gormé - many times over the years, including an article in the New York Sun from last Fall.

I first talked to Steve and Eydie about 30 years ago, when Chuck Granata and I interviewed the two of them for my book, Sinatra! The Song is You. We started on the topic of Sinatra, and quickly veered around to other subjects. It was the first of many conversations on the phone and in person. I do remember the very first question I ever asked him, as part of that first and more formal interview:

Me: Do you remember the first time you ever heard the voice of Frank Sinatra?

Steve: That’s like asking, “When was the first time you ate bread?”

Steve continued that he was listening to Sinatra, "…just as soon as they cut the umbilical cord. I think Sinatra has always been a musical presence in all our lives. From as far back as I can remember listening to music, there has been a Frank Sinatra. He started recording at the end of the `30s and he has had a physical and influential presence in the world of music on everybody who's ever listened to a radio, a phonograph, or anything.”

Later in the interview, Steve added: “Frank always made sure that he was surrounded by very creative people, and you flourish like that. You know what it does, it's like when you play with great tennis players, you play better, even if the game is like on a one to ten, if you're a five, you wind up playing seven and eight. So, you wind up even more creative, because of your environment. And with Sinatra I think that he had an extraordinary gift, he had all, everything going for him. He had the appeal physically, vocally, he was creative and innovative at the time. He was not afraid to take chances, and all these creative people around him, and his instinct was extraordinary... street smart, animalistic, very much on the head, and correct. Whenever he has referred and deferred to his instinct, he's always been right.”

(Above: a clip I wish I could find in better resolution: the legendary Lucille Ball as special guest on the premiere episode of The Steve Lawrence Show, 1965.)

Almost every time we talked, Steve liked to remind me about two points: first, that they worked with Don Costa well before the great arranger (and producer) began his classic collaboration with Sinatra. Sometimes, Steve would say, “Frank inherited Don from us.” And at other times he would say, with his tongue in his cheek, “Frank stole Don from us!” Either way, they wanted a little credit - which they deserved - for helping to launch that remarkable musical relationship.

The other point was Eydie’s connection to the legendary jazz singer, Sarah Vaughan. Eydie consistently said that her main musical idols were Sinatra and Sarah. She even said that for a while, she was known as “The Sephardic Sarah.” She recalled this connection with considerable pride. You can hear it on some of her early recordings, particularly the ending of her 1957 recording of “I’ll Take Romance,” which she concludes with a dizzy-ing and divine - not to mention highly sassy - sweep upwards:

The story goes that when she actually met Vaughan, the great lady said to her, "You know, you're wonderful, but you're going to have to find another style, I already have that." In other words, Sarah didn’t think the world needed another Sarah, Sephardic or otherwise. Eydie carried that conversation with her - like a badge of honor - until she died in 2013.

Possibly my two favorite solo albums by Steve - at his saddest, and at his silliest

Here’s an appreciation I wrote about Steve & Eydie in The New York Sun, circa 2004 - as reprinted on the Lawrence-Gorme website. (Click Here)

Last October, I dedicated an entire episode of my KSDS weekly radio series, Sing! Sing! Sing! to Steve’s recordings, both as a solo artist and as half of the team of Steve & Eydie. (Playable on Podbean.com, click here.)

And here’s a recent (November 2023) review I wrote, again for the New York Sun, of the recent PBS compilation - ‘Steve Lawrence & Eydie Gormé: Memories of My Mom & Dad’ - assembled by the resourceful Jim Pierson along with the couple’s talented son, David Lawrence. (Click here.) (By the way, David Lawrence and Debbie Shapiro Gravitte are doing a tribute to Steve & Eydie at Carnegie Zankel Hall on March 18 - just try and get a ticket!)

Lastly, and again from 1965, here’s the grand finale from a relatively rare episode of The Hollywood Palace, supplied by Brother Anthony (Patron Saint and Finder of Lost Video) in Philadelphia:

Encore: my buddy David Arizimendi supplied this very rare single of Steve singing the Earl Grant hit, “The End” (by Jimmy Krondes & Sid Jacobson) I’d never heard this before - a bittersweet love song for this sad occasion.

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Very Special thanks to the fabulous Ms. Elizabeth Zimmer, for expert proofreading of this page, and scanning for typos, mistakes, and other assorted boo-boos!

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Sing! Sing! Sing! : My tagline is, “Celebrating the great jazz - and jazz-adjacent - singers, as well as the composers, lyricists, arrangers, soloists, and sidemen, who help to make them great.”
A production of KSDS heard Saturdays at 10:00 AM Pacific; 1:00PM Eastern.
To listen to KSDS via the internet (current and recent shows are available for streaming.) click here.
The whole series is also listenable on Podbean.com, click here.

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SLOUCHING TOWARDS BIRDLAND is a subStack newsletter by Will Friedwald.  The best way to support my work is with a paid subscription, for which I am asking either $5 a month or $50 per year.  Thank you for considering. (Thanks as always to Beth Naji & Arlen Schumer for special graphics.) Word up, peace out, go forth and sin no more! (And always remember: “A man is born, but he’s no good no how, without a song.”)

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