OldiesCountry

In her quiet way, Doris Day continues to spread  joy  and not only with her music and films.  Residents and visitors  – two legged and four-legged – of  Carmel-By-The -Sea,  California are in for a treat as they reside or  visit in this beautiful beach  town near Monterey.   We were   unexpected recipients of  Day’s Happy Day Vibes  late January.

After dining at the excellent Grill on Ocean Avenue, we asked our waiter about any local spots where we could hear some music.  He said we were in luck, to walk down a couple blocks to the Cypress Inn.   Surprisingly  unfamiliar  with this place,  we came upon a beautiful 30s-era smalllish  Mediterranean   white stucco hotel.  Once inside the front door we were greeted by a small group of people and dogs(!) in a living-room setting with a pianist and flugelhornist playing jazz .   It was something rather unimaginable in this day an age.  The pianist, who turned out to be the well-known Dick Whittington and fellow musician , whose name we failed to write down, were  putting on what amounted to a private concert of world-class vintage  jazz as we reclined on couches, sipping drinks.  Everyone , both two legged and four legged , in the room couldn’t have been more friendly, including the artists themselves. The unplanned experience was like something from another time and place.  I can’t wait to go back to see what next time will have in store.  Whittington, a transplant from Berkeley, CA , plays every  Friday and Saturday with various renown guest artists.

Just experiencing the charming Cypress Inn was an experience in itself  but learning that Doris Day was part owner,  as was her late musical son, Terry Melcher, made it even more special. The retiscent Day was no doubt talked into allowing old movie posters (Pajama Game, etc.) and record  album covers to adorn the walls near ‘Terry’s Lounge,  an elegant classy but non-ostentatious bar which now serves tribute to Melcher, who had quite a remarkable, if under-appreciated career of his own as producer, musician and entrepeneur.   It’s obvious that   Day does not run the Cypress solely for profit , judging by the quality of music and charm we witnessed and not the number of  people who could squeeze into the place -  a gift for humans to enjoy with their  four-legged friends.  Their may not be another venue like it anywhere. Cats as well as dogs are welcome to stay overnight in the Inn along with their folks.

Usually one thinks of  Clint Eastwood as the person most synonymous with Carmel but that seems to have changed – at least for us…  Day is probably singly responsible  for making Carmel one of the most dog and pet-friendly towns anywhere.  Of course,  Doris Day is probably more famous today, especially among younger people, for her Doris Day Animal Federation, which helps rehabiliate and find homes for dogs and cats, most recently having sent relief help to Haiti for all the abandoned and injured pets in the earthquake.

Going from her  prototypical 50s image as the wholesome girl   next store to a later life filled with much sadness -  a number of failed marriages including brutality and the loss and associated tragedies involving   her devoted son Terry,  who, by the way , helped run DDAF,  Day no doubt takes solace in the animals and  in the contributions she has made.

Doris Day may be in her late 80s but, in our book its only a number and as one will witness at SeniorCountry.com ( to come) with  Jack LaLanne, Art Linkletter and others, people can be vibrant at any age while  others’ lives  are basically over at much younger ages.

Doris Day, we are told, rarely has made public appearances in many years.  Though we wish she did ,  for our own selfish reasons,  we can understand why this kind sole, who has helped so many others and not gotten back nearly what she deserves, must take life like the words of her signature song, ‘Que Sera Sera’.  We can only wish her the very best  for many more years doing what she does so well , while we continue listening  to her  beautiful music and watching those fun, uplifting movies. Perhaps this little mention will alert others to what Doris Day is about today, and perhaps bring some joy into their lives too, whether it be at the Cypress or somewhere in Carmel, or just enjoying the music and movies. Doris Day, one of a kind. Great to have her with us!

begin_the_beguine_tony_martin It’s sure good to see someone like Tony Martin still  singing – and singing well into his late 90s.  After all, probably the closest in age still on the circuit is Tony Bennett, and he’s a baby still in his mid-80s. Martin was raised right in my hometown of Oakland, and attended St Mary’s  College despite being Jewish. After  taking on a non-ethnic -sounding name, Tony Martin, Hollywood beckoned him. Martin became one of the top singers and actors of his day.  During the night we saw him at the Razz Room in San Francisco last year, Martin dropped many of those names of people he worked with  during the 40s and 50s and beyond, like Sinatra and Crosby, though his long-time conductor had to frequently help with the actual names.  But that’s ok, Martin sang well – and sang his familiar songs like ‘Begin the Beguine and ‘There’s No Tomorrow (same tune as Elvis Presley’s ‘It’s Now or Never,’ but recorded long before Presley, as he noted.  After Martin’s long-time movie-star wife Cyd Charisse (above right, with Martin in younger days) passed a few years ago, Martin called up his agent and said he needed to get busy and renewed his career, to the fortune of old and new fans, like us. If you want to hear the last of a breed of  powerful balladeers from the big band era, try to see Martin if you can, or at least listen to his music , like this one:

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