TOM: What TV shows did you guys appear on?
MORTY: Oh, we did a ton of tv appearances.While we were on tour, we did a lot of local appearances. We did a bunch of national shows, too. We did the Ed Sullivan show 13 times. I'll tell you why we were on so much. We were doing the Kate Smith show, and later, we had our own radio show on the NBC network. So we had to be back in town to do the show. Now, we usually took Sunday off to be with our families, but we always made ourselves available to Ed. His show was live, like a lot of shows back then, and with so many people on it, something could go wrong, you know, the dancing bear would get sick or something. And we were right around the corner. So Ed could call us up on the day of the show, and we could fill in. One time, he called us 15 minutes before the curtain went up ! And we were there, we went on and did a couple of songs before the end of the show- he loved us for that. We did the Jackie Gleason show 3 times in 1957. He told us that we were his favorite group. A lot of people told us that, but Jackie took us up to his office and showed us his record collection- not only did he have all our records, I mean albums, singles and e.p's, but he had doubles for when he wore out the grooves on the first ones! Let's see, we did the Arthur Murray show, the Guy Lombardo show, there were a couple other shows that we did that popped up for a couple months and then got cancelled, whose names escape me right now.
TOM: Did you ever do the Korla Pandit show?
MORTY: No ! Wonderful man. We caught his show out on the west coast, on one of our tours out there. Over 700 shows, and he never spoke a word ! That was a local show, out in L.A. And like I said, we rarely got out there.
I'll tell you a story. We were doing a west coast tour, sometime around '55. We wrapped it up with a 3 night stand at the Coconut grove nightclub on Sunset. I think it's the Comedy Store now. The next night we had a big party at the Beverly Hills Hotel. We invited a lot of show biz people, people from the record company, djs, radio people, actors- the biggest star was Gene Kelly. He had a meeting with some producers about a movie he was making, he could only swing by for 15 minutes, but he wanted to tell us how much he loved the Three Suns. That was nice. We had it catered by Chasen's, full bar, the whole shmear. Jerry Colonna was there. Jerry woud tell a joke, and then laugh at his own joke louder then anyone else. And it got worse when he drank. Jerry skipped the food and went straight for the bar. He brought some records with him, you know, 45's- instrumental versions of songs we all knew. He would write his own lyrics to these songs, and then get up on a chair and belt them out. They were blue, or risque' . I mean, they were nothing compared to some of the stuff they say nowadays. But back then, they were a little 'off color'. So Jerry puts his records on and gets up on a chair and starts 'performing'. And by the third song, everyone's hollering,"Get off, Jerry !" So now, Jerry's walking around the party, telling jokes, and laughing like a hyena. And all of a sudden, it hits me- I don't hear Jerry anymore. I look around,can't find him- knock on the restroom doors,"Is Jerry in there?" the last thing we need is him passing out at our party. So I go out in the hall, and there's Jerry- stark naked, running up and down the hall, beating his chest and yelling like Tarzan ! (laughter) Jerry Colonna naked is not a pretty sight ! So I go,"psst! psst! Jerry-" and he's ignoring me. I went right over, got in his face, and said,"Are you out of your mind ? Hedda Hopper is on her way up here right now ! If she sees you like this, your career is over !" He sobered up right away! He said,"Gee, Mort, I never thought of it like that". And I said, "Well, you better think about it because she's on her way up right now !". Now, I knew she had been invited, I didn't even know if she was coming or not. I started throwing clothes at Jerry, He had just got his pants on and was wrestling into his undershirt-his head pops through and he's face to face with Hedda Hopper ! She says,"What's the matter, boys, wouldn't they rent you a room ?" (laughter). So I said,"Oh. Hedda, Jerry was acting as our bartender-he spilled liquor all over himself, which she could believe, because he had been drinking all night. So I said, "The restrooms were all taken, I was just helping him clean himself off". And Jerry picked up the rest of his clothes and said,"That's right ,Mort ! Bye, Hedda !" and he ran off down the hall. She's staring at me like she still expects an explanation, so I said,"Hedda, there's a lovely buffet inside, we had it catered by Chasen's, why don't you go in and help yourself ?" and she goes, "Harummph!" and goes into the party- I think I saved his career that night !
TOM: You said you had your own show.
MORTY: The Three suns did the Kate Smith show forever, something like 13 or 14 years. We had done a lot of television in that time, and it was obvious that that was the way things were going. We went to NBC, with the idea of doing our own tv show. They were hesitant. We tried selling them on what we wanted to do- we wouldn't just go out and play our songs. Some of our material was really offbeat, and we wanted the show to reflect that. We didn't call them videos back then, we called them films. The best tv shows were doing wild stuff, like Korla Pandit- that's the bag we wanted to get in. So they countered with the idea of us doing our own radio show. It was on the NBC radio network, 5 days a week- a fifteen minute show with just us.It was on at 3 p.m. in New York, 4 in the midwest, and 5 p.m. on the west coast, which was a great time slot- people had the radio on in the office in New York and the midwest, and they got off work on the west coast at 5, meaning they would get in their cars right when our show was coming on. We had always sold well, but our sales went up when we got the radio show. Some of our albums went in the top 20 at this time. And Kate couldn't have been nicer about us leaving, she was happy for us that we got our own show.
It was at this time that we got a message at RCA. Arturo Toscanini wanted to meet us, and we thought, "Great, what did we do ? did we piss him off ?" - No ! He loved the Three Suns, and he wanted to do a concert with us. The greatest conductor in the world ! We met with him at the RCA building in New York. He wanted to do a pops concert with us ,playing with the NBC symphony orchestra . We were flattered ! We got together to rehearse, and just like any group of musicians who get together to play, we all said, "Okay, what do you know ?" Toscanini heard some of our records and said,"Let's play Blue Tango, let's play 'In a persian market'- we played a lot of the same numbers. So we went to RCA and said, "Let's record this, this can be our new record, 'Toscanini meets the Three Suns at Radio City Music Hall'. They wouldn't do it ! They said, "No, we'll have to pay too many people- we'll have to pay you and the orchestra'. And we said,"You'll save money, it's a live record, all you have to do is set up a couple microphones'. They wouldn't budge. We said we'll take a smaller royalty- nope. We went to Toscanini, he went in and did his rain dance for them- nothing. They wouldn't consider it. Which is really a shame, because that concert was the best we ever sounded. Artie had his third synthesizer by then, you could hear us, you could hear the orchestra- it sounded great. Classical music on the synthesizer with a full orchestra, twenty years before Emerson,Lake and Palmer- yes sir !
TOM: Do you remember what songs you played?
Morty: We opened with 'Twilight Time', of course. We did a lot of Leroy Anderson- Fiddle Faddle, the Syncopated clock, Blue Tango. Artie sang his big number,'It's all over now'. We did some popular stuff, a little bit of everything- it was a 'pops' concert. I remember that we did a lot of numbers from our 'Pop concert favorites' album. The radio broadcast came in number 3 that week. Not number 3 for our time slot, the third most listened to show in the nation. It was reviewed in Cashbox, Billboard, even Down beat- which was strictly jazz. They all raved about it. The reviews all ended with the same thing-'Can't wait for the album to come out'. The concert lasted an hour and a half. It could have been a top ten album, I know that for a fact.
A couple weeks later I'm walking down Broadway in New York and I hear, "Morty ! Morty Nevins ! The Three Suns !" It was Toscanini. he was in a cab, and had the driver pull over. He told us that the orchestra was still raving about the concert- that it was the best they ever sounded, and that it was the most fun they ever had. I told him we were saying the same thing. He asked if we would like to do another- Of course we would ! I told him how honored we were. He said,"Next time, we'll get a release from RCA, so we can record it and release it on another label. Then they'll have to put it out !"
We said goodbye- he died that week ! there would be no 'next time'.
TOM: Okay, so the Three Suns had their own radio show and you were angling for a 'Three Suns' television show...
MORTY: Right. We were talking to directors and producers, because we were going to do a pilot, come hell or high water. As I said, we wanted something unusual, something that would reflect the music we were making. And the radio show was winning it's time slot everyday.
One day, we got a call from the record company for a meeting. This was nothing unusual. We would get together every time a record was coming out to discuss marketing, strategy, going on tv shows, etc. We walk in, and there's the head of RCA, the head of our musician's union, and our congressman. There were three chairs facing the desk. We knew something was up right away. They said "Come in boys, close the door, and have a seat". So we sit down and they're all looking at each other. Finally, the president says,"It's come to our attention that you've taken bribes for playing certain songs on your radio program". Then he names the songs and the song pluggers, and the exact amount they've given us. Artie said, "We're not saying a word without our lawyer". The head of the musician's union said,"Look guys, we don't need this. We just want to put an end to this before it starts. Just admit it, and it doesn't go any further than this room." And Artie says,"We're not saying a word without our lawyer". And our congressman says, "If we find out you took the money and didn't tell us, we'll get you for tax evasion. That's how we got Al Capone! We'll send you up for ten years !" And Artie keeps saying, "We're not saying a word without our lawyer". Now remember, we had just had the communist witch hunts. And our president says, "Guys, here's the deal. We're finding everyone that took money", and he named some of the biggest names in show biz. And then he says,"We're just stopping this before it becomes a scandal, we don't need this. If you admit taking the money, that's the end of it. If you don't admit it, then they have a big investigation and your name gets dragged through the mud and they put you on trial. Now if you admit what's going on here, we'll tell you that you can't take any more money, and that's the end of it. It'll go no further than this room, you have my word on it." So Albert says, "Let me talk with my band out in the hall". We go find a broom closet, and it's a scene right out of 'High Noon'. Artie is sticking to his guns, telling us we don't say a word until we get with our lawyer- and Albert is saying,"They gave their word". None of us want this to go any further. We did take a couple hundred bucks for playing certain songs on our show. And I didn't think it was a big deal. So we finally took it to a vote, and me and Albert outvoted Artie, 2 to 1. And Artie was shaking his head the whole time.(At this point, Morty shouts into the microphone,"Artie, you were right ! We're so sorry ! Forgive us, Artie !). So we went back in and said,"Okay, we admit it. We did take money from those people that you said". And the head of the musician's union said, "Okay boys, that wasn't so hard, was it ? You guys are not to take a dime from this point on, understand? And it ends right here". And that was that.
The next morning, I was having breakfast.My wife would cook breakfast, and we would get mail early in the morning. She would bring in the mail, and I would read the trades while eating breakfast. I open up 'Variety', and what do you think the headline said? It said,' Three Suns sing like songbirds'. I can still hear the sound of my silverware hitting the floor. I started reading the article- It opens with,"Yesterday the Three Suns turned states evidence", states evidence, what states evidence ?! Don't you have to be sworn in to turn states evidence? The article turned the whole thing around, it said we turned the song pluggers in- they turned us in ! And it goes on to say we did it to save our hides. I was almost done reading it when the phone rang- it was Albert. He said, 'Who's going to tell Artie ?" I said I would. I rang Artie, his wife answered. Artie, of course, was still in bed. (laughter) I told her,"Get him up". I told Artie about the variety article. Oh, the words he used ! I held the phone out at arms length for about 2 minutes. I finally told him we were going down to RCA. We met down there and went up to the president's office. We came storming down the hall, and his secretary said,"Guys, he's not in his office. He saw the story in 'Variety' and he hit the roof! He came running out into the hall and made me book him on a flight to the west coast. He was shaking ! I think he knew you'd be coming down". She was good, we trusted her. And he managed to hide from us for a month. When we finally met, he told us he had no idea this would happen. And I believed him. We had hit the top twenty a couple times, why would you throw a top twenty group under the bus ? And the head of the musician's union, I honestly think he didn't want a scandal- why would you ? It wasn't good for business. It was our congressman, I'm sure of it. He wanted to make a name for himself, and if you bust a couple of song pluggers, who cares ? Nobody knows who they are. But everyone knows who the Three Suns are. So he went straight to 'Variety' and said he caught us, when they had really caught the song pluggers.
The next day, THE NEXT DAY- we got a call from NBC telling us we wouldn't be on that day-our show was cancelled ! And forget about the pilot for the tv show, we don't even have a radio show anymore. So we sat down and had a meeting. Artie said, "Well, that does it, we have to go on the road, that's our bread and butter". Well, that was out- Albert had heart trouble, and for the last couple of years, he had missed most of the shows. We had a couple guys who filled in on guitar. And Albert had invested wisely, he was already in the publishing game. Me, it was time to spend time with the family. You can't phone it in, you know what I'm saying ? I had played every night for the last 20 years, I had done it. I also had socked it away, from the early days, I put away half of everything I had made. Artie, God bless him, I don't think he had next months rent (laughter). Artie tended to live like there was no tomorrow. And now, the rent was due. So we sat down and worked out a plan- Artie would take the name for live shows, and Albert and myself would take the name for records. Things were coming to a head, anyway. If the tv show wasn't picked up, we would have worked it out in the same way. But if someone pulled the plug on the Three Suns, we wanted it to be us- not some asshole congressman. In less than a week, in a couple days, in fact, we went from planning our tv show, to getting smeared in the press, to our radio show getting cancelled, to the original group breaking up.
TOM: And then came, 'the Morty Nevins show'.
MORTY: I still wanted to move into television. We hadn't lost all our friends at NBC. I was known as the comedian of the group, and one of the executives at NBC offered me a show, a local show, in Atlanta. It was a morning show, 7 to 9, Monday through Friday. It was meant to be on while the family was getting ready for work and school. The show started with an alarm clock going off, and me hopping out of bed, in my suit, and running over in front of the camera and doing a monolog. I would tell jokes and fool around. We had some regulars, we would do skits. And we had a great jazz group, the Dick Morgan Trio. They were on monday, Wednesday, and Friday. On Fridays, we would have a party, you know, celebrate that it was the end of the week. I would go over at the end of the show and play with the Dick Morgan Trio. This was getting me a lot of attention, not all of it favorable. The Dick Morgan trio was black, and I was playing music with them on television in the deep south, back in the late 50's.
TOM: Who was the biggest star you had on the show?
MORTY: Perry Como. Perry was an old friend from RCA.I knew he was coming to town to do a concert, so I called him up and asked him to come on the show. We came back from commercial, I was talking to the audience, and all of a sudden there was this loud knocking. I said,"Someone's here ! Who can that be? So the camera pans over to a door, and in walks Perry Como. Remember, there were only 3 networks back then. Perry had the biggest tv show in the country. So he came over, and we walked over to a couple chairs and sat down. I interviewed him for about 15 minutes. It was on the front pages of all the papers the next day.
TOM: Do you have any copies of 'The Morty Nevins show' on videotape?
MORTY: No. It wasn't like today, you couldn't just pop in a video and tape it. Videotapes were giant things, they still came in these big plastic holders so you could change them out easily, and they cost about 160 dollars each. I wasn't making that doing the show. We just used the same video every day. But I wish I had the foresight that when we did a really sparkling show, I would have said,"Here's the money. Go buy a new video, I'll take that one". At the same time, I had opened Nevins piano on Third street. We did great business, and I'll tell you why. We extended credit to everyone. A new piano could cost 3 to 400 dollars, and a lot of families couldn't afford that. So we let them pay us 20 dollars a month, and didn't charge them interest or a down payment. We also sold pianos to people, black, white, it didn't matter. Music is a big part of peoples lives, and if a poor black family can afford 20 dollars a month, they can buy a piano at Nevins piano. At the same time, we had group classes. Some people couldn't afford private lessons, so we had big group classes, once a week. Any kid, black or white, could come to the group lessons for 50 cents. Later, it was a dollar. And if they couldn't scrape up the dough, of course, we would still let them take the lesson. This was also getting me some attention, and not all of it favorable. We had been doing the show about 2 and a half years. I got a shave in the barbershop every day, right before the show. One day, my barber lathers me up and starts shaving me. He's holding the razor right to my throat, and says,"You know, Morty, I'm a member of the Ku Klux Klan !" and I said, "You are ?" and he could feel my body tense up, and he says,"Now, relax, Morty, I have to tell you something. You were the subject of last night's meeting !" and I said, "I was ? What did I do?" and the whole time he's giving me a shave, he keeps putting the razor up against my throat. And he says,"Well, for starts, you're on the tv set in our living room, playing music with that black group". He didn't say black, I leave that to your imagination. And then he says,"You also open the doors of your business to them, They're going to think they can go into any store in town". And this whole time, I'm looking at him, thinking he could slit my throat. And then he says,"And finally, you're opening your school to them, black and white kids, side by side. The boys are not happy with you, AT ALL ! They can't decide what to do about you. Some of them want to burn your house down. Some of them want to burn your store down. Some of them want to burn the television studio down. And some of them want to tar and feather you and run you out of town on a rail". Now we were at the end of the shave, and he puts a hot towel on my face, and then takes it off, and says, 'So that's how it stands, Morty. They're going to burn down your house or your business or your tv show, and they don't care who's inside".So I get up, and he says, "That will be a dollar, Morty". So I pay him and he says, "See you tomorrow, Morty!"-knowing full well he would never see me again.I went straight to the phone booth and called my wife, and told her,"Take our daughter to a motel, register under another name, call me as soon as the show is over". Of course she was upset, I told her,"Just do it, I'll explain later."
I did the show in a daze- as soon as it was over, I gathered everyone around. I told them that this was the last show, that I had an emergency and couldn't do the show anymore. I couldn't take the chance-what if they burned down the store while I'm doing a group lesson? What if they burn down the studio while we're all inside? What if they go after the Dick Morgan trio ? And a couple years later, we saw what they would do-burning down churches in the name of God-in the name of God! Now, if I live to be a hundred, can you explain to me how that makes any sense at all ? Okay. Look, if it was just me, I would have stayed and fought them-you have to. But it wasn't just me, now 50 kids taking a piano lesson at my store were in the way. Okay. So all these years later, I still think I made the right decision, because nobody died because of Morty Nevins.
TOM: The Platters had a hit with 'Twilight time' in the middle of all this.
MORTY: Right. I was doing the show and running the store Monday through Friday. I was flying up on the weekend and working for Aldon music. My brother had formed a music publishing company with Don Kirshner, hence the name- Al and Don. We would listen to songs, and I would also produce demos. I could write charts, I could transpose, I could come up with an arrangement really quick, because competition was really fierce- you know,'Fabian' needs a new song, this moment.(laughter) Fabian was a really sweet kid, by the way.Paul Anka was an asshole(laughter).So was Neil Sedaka! These guys walked around with their noses in the air, like they were the biggest thing since sliced bread.And of course, when the Beatles came along, these guys were yesterday's news.
TOM: You were there through the whole 'teen idol' period. Who do you think had the most talent?
MORTY: Oh, that's easy. Bobby Darin! Bobby, he was the real thing. he wrote his own songs, he commanded the stage, he played all the instruments. We went to a couple of his recording sessions. If something wasn't perfect, he would walk up to the musician, and it didn't matter if the guy was on drums, or piano, or trumpet-if Bobby wasn't getting exactly what he wanted, he would say,"Excuse me, may I ?" and he would pick up the guys instrument , and play it exactly how he wanted it.And it wasn't ego, he showed him the feel he wanted, and the guy would say, "Right !". You know that album,'Darin at the Copa'? We were there, right up front, Albert, Don, and me- with our wives. Great night.
TOM: Morty, the Platters...
MORTY: Right, the Platters ! I had the radio on in the car, and suddenly I hear, 'Here's the Platters new smash- and 'Twilight time' came on- I almost had a heart attack ! I called Albert as soon as I got to a phone. Remember, this was right after the 'Payola smear'. Our name was mud in the industry-everyone thought we had turned people in to save our hides, and it was the other way around. And now, 'Twilight time', which everyone knew as the Three Suns theme song, went to number 1. I can't tell you how much that meant to us. So we buried the hatchet with Buck Ram, for about 15 minutes.
Albert got a call from Ram, saying ,"Why don't you fly out to Las Vegas and see the Platters? They'd love to meet the guys that wrote 'Twilight time'. So we said,"Sure". We fly out to Vegas and take a cab. The cab keeps going past the Flamingo, which is where the Platters were playing. I tell the cab driver, and he says,"That's not the address you gave me". Me and Albert start in with, "I'm sure they're performing at the Flamingo".The cab driver knows what's going on. He told us that the Platters are black, and black people couldn't rent a room there! So me and Albert are looking at each other, and the cab goes to the edge of town to a little fleabag motel. We knock on the door, and inside there's a little party going on. Buck, and the Platters, and some other people. So we said hello to everyone and start shmoozing. Tony Williams, the Platters lead singer, pulls me aside and said,"So, Buck said he managed you".And I said, "No, Buck never managed us, we read the contract he put in front of us, and our lawyer said not to sign it". And his eyes get wide, and his jaw opens,so I said, "Tell me about your contract with Buck,what's his percentage?" and my heart almost stopped when he said,"He gets everything and he pays us 100 dollars a week, but we own part of the Platters name". Now my eyes got wide and my jaw dropped. It was the same contract he tried screwing us with. So I said, "Let me talk to Buck".
I pulled Buck aside in a hallway. I said,"What are you doing to these guys?" and he said,"What are you talking about? so I said, "You have them performing in a hotel where they can't even stay".And he says, "We're opening doors". So I said, "You're not opening doors for them, they can't walk in the place.And you're screwing them with the same contract you tried screwing us with. How greedy are you? You could pay them what they're worth". And he says,"I just got you a hit record, you asshole". And I said,"You didn't get me a hit record, I wrote a hit record, remember? Don't you see what you're doing? You're killing the goose that's laying the golden eggs! This group could have hits for the next twenty years,but only if you pay them what they're worth, they won't stay together very long if you keep screwing them" and he growls,"Stay out of it, Nevins!" and I said,"Pay them what they're worth!" and he hollers," The Three Suns are leaving! The Three Suns are leaving!" and we come around the corner, and everyone is staring at us. Albert is sitting there with the Platters,he's got a big grin on his face because he loves the Platters, and they know a lot of the same people in the industry.And Albert has a drink in his hand.And Buck hollers, "The Three Suns are leaving! The Three Suns have to leave!" And we just got there, and we had a shouting match in the hallway, and a couple minutes later we're getting kicked out! So Albert lifts his glass to Buck, like he's toasting him, and says,"Nice seeing you again, Buck!" as we're getting kicked out the door (laughter). My brother was so funny sometimes. I loved him.
So, we went to see the Platters that night. They were great. Tony was such a great front man, not just a great singer, but he had such a warm persona, you felt like he loved being up there. And the group harmony was perfect, they all blended so well. But Ram did just what I said he would, he screwed the group till they broke up. And for what? What did he gain by doing that? The next night we went to see Esquivel, he was playing a different hotel. He was an old friend from RCA. His show was sensational! He had a small orchestra, 10 or 12 pieces, but they could all play different instruments. And they had dancers, who would change outfits for the different numbers. Back then, they were 'scantily clad'. Today, they show more in an aerobics outfit! He did things with different colored lights, and they projected pictures on the wall- I remember an underwater number, and an outer space number. And this was well before the light shows of the 60s.
TOM: How was your relationship with Artie at this time?
MORTY: Well, Artie was not real happy about the way the whole thing unfolded. He put a group together, and started playing, you know, working them in. They wanted to be sharp, because we had had offers from overseas, and now Artie was going to take them up on it. RCA JAPAN got a hold of us because the Three Suns were going to Japan and wanted an album for the tour. Would we do an album of Japanese music? What the hell did we know about Japanese music? Nothing! so Albert went to the music store and got some music books of Japanese music and started looking through them. One was children's music, and he liked some of the melodies, so we did an album of Japanese children's songs- it was strange, even for us ! I didn't think it was one of our better albums, but as it turned out, it hit number 1 when the boys were over there. I came up to New York. They had done the tour, and Artie called up and said he had to meet with us. I asked Albert how he sounded, and he said,"Worried. Concerned". Great, now what? Did they bomb over there? Did people say that those aren't the real Three Suns ? Did Artie want us to go on tour with him ? Well, he was pulling our leg. Artie bursts through the door at 3 O'clock grinning ear to ear and says, "There you are, you s.o.b.'s! Someone pour me a drink ! I have to tell you about the tour!
They were a sensation over there. RCA Japan had done it right. They assigned them a translator so they could speak the language everywhere they went. They were interviewed on radio through the whole tour. They did some television appearances, and the whole tour was sold out. They didn't just do nightclubs, they did a couple big concerts- 3000 seaters. And the 'Three Suns in Japan' album hit number 1 while they were over there.And then Artie says,"Oh, that's right, you birds are in charge of the records, now, aren't you ?" and he pulls out a couple stacks of records and hands one to Albert and one to me. You never saw such packaging in your life! It was 45s, E.P.s- they had re-released all of our singles in honor of the tour. First of all, every single or E.P. had a picture sleeve, whether or not the American version had one. All of them came in a nice little plastic bag with an 8 page booklet full of pictures and Japanese writing, you know, 'the story of the Three Suns'. They had a day off from the tour and gave them a tour of the manufacturing plant. They did a half speed master, which means, when you cut the grooves on the master record, you do it at half speed, and run the tape at half speed. You pick up a lot more fidelity this way. Then you put the master record in a bath of chemicals. In America, they toss it in the bath for an hour. In Japan, they toss it in for a week! And Finally, in Japan they use virgin vinyl. In America, they toss anything in the vat even remotely resembling vinyl. Plastic, old 78's, they don't care. The Japanese records shone like mirrors. Oh wait, there's more..
In Japan, they store the tapes in an air- tight vault. Now in America, they stored the tapes in a drafty old warehouse. We know, because we went out there looking for something once. The wind was blowing through the warehouse, tapes were out of the boxes, lying on their sides-it was awful! "You're keeping our life's work here, are you kidding me ?"
We had copies of all our records up in the office. We pulled out some of the American pressings alongside the Japanese counterparts and played them side by side. There was no comparison! The Japanese records sounded like CD's do today, they sounded that good.
Anyway, it was great to see Artie like this. Like I said, he was not a happy camper when the payola smear happened, and now he was over the moon. The tour was a huge success, and I think he was planning to play all over the world at this point. Like I said, we were big overseas, because there was nothing to translate. And it was his band now, he could do whatever he wanted. And they were a smash in Japan.
TOM: So it's safe to assume that there was no animosity between you and the 'new' Three Suns?
MORTY: What? Oh no, none whatsoever. They had their job to do, and we had ours. This was the only way we could continue. We made the records, they did the shows, and we wished each other well. I'll tell you a story, though. I was still down south. I was driving by a nightclub, and it said,'Tonight- the Three Suns'. This was a couple months after they had done the Japanese tour. Now, I knew that they weren't in town, because I had just spoken with Artie, and I knew that they were doing a couple weeks in Vegas. Artie had about a hundred different 'Three Suns' over the years. This guy had played with Artie for a couple months, and now had his own 'Three Suns!' I showed up and announced that any 'Three Suns' had damned well feature Artie Dunn, or there would be a lawsuit. They could play there, but not as the Three Suns.
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