I contacted Mr Bregman, the famous composer and arranger, producer, director and nephew of Jules Styne ,to ask him a few questions about Doris Day . Here is his response.
Dear Mr. Bregman,
I came across your Web site doing research on Doris Day. What a pleasant surprise to learn more about Doris Day through your great stories. Your other stories about the music and Hollywood greats were both funny and sad, especially the Judy Garland story.
I GUESS THE JUDY STORIES WERE SAD - BUT AT THE TIME BEING SO YOUNG IT ANNOYED ME - AND EVERY TIME I WAS WITH HER IT BECAME WEIRDER AND WEIRDER - I ALWAYS “TOED THE MARK” AND OF COURSE SHE WAS THE OPPOSITE - ALTHOUGH I HAD ALL THOSE MOMENTS I WROTE ABOUT - THEY WERE QUITE “DISRUPTIVE” TO THE WORK I WAS HIRED TO DO - ESPECIALLY ME RUNNING A NEW (AT THE TIME) RECORD COMPANY - VERVE - AND ON “NIGHT PATROL” WITH JUDY. I COULD COME IN ONE NIGHT - ALWAYS AT 8PM - AND THEN SHE WOULD THINGS LIKE “HI HONEY, I’M IN THE KITCHEN MAKING BREAKFAST!” BREAKFAST??? THAT MEANS WE DON’T START REHEARSALS UNTIL 9:30PM AND MY WHOLE NEXT DAY WILL BE SCREWED UP - SO I HAD A LOW COMPASSION METER FOR HER. I WAS HIRED TO DO A JOB AND I WANTED TO DO IT WELL - BUT SHE NEEDED “LOTS OF LOVE” FROM “HER PEOPLE” AND AT CERTAIN POINTS ONE WANTED TO “GET THE HECK OUTTA THERE”! YES, THE STORIES ARE ABSURDLY FUNNY BUT AT THE TIME I WAS CONTINUALLY AGGRAVATED BY HER “ANTICS”!
The topic of my research is about Doris Day as an icon. Since you knew her ifrom the very beginning of her career and saw her become a star both in music and movies, how did you perceive her as an artist and how did the media at the time perceive her?.
NO I DID NOT KNOW HER AT THE BEGINNING OF HER CAREER BECAUSE I WAS A YOUNGSTER WHEN MY BROTHER AND I SAW HER WITH OUR PARENTS AS THEY KNEW LES BROWN WHO HAD THE ORCHESTRA SHE WAS SINGING WITH AND HAD NOT HIT HOLLYWOOD AS YET.
I PERCEIVED HER AS A “SWEET” SINGER - VERY PURE TONE - NEVER VARIED FROM THE MELODY (LIKE ELLA) AND ALWAYS “DID THE SONG” AS THE SONGWRITERS WROTE IT - ESPECIALLY MY UNCLE JULE STYNE - MY MOTHER’S BROTHER - WHO WROTE ALL HER HIT SONGS WITH SAMMY CAHN AST WARNED BROTHERS STUDIOS AT THAT TIME. AND SHE WAS ALWAYS ON PITCH. THERE MUST HAVE BEEN A LOT MORE THAT I NEVER KNEW ABOUT HER AS I BELIEVE SHE WAS MARRIED TWICE BEFORE MARTY MELCHER AND SHE GOT MARRIED. BUT THEY WERE MUSICIANS - I BELIEVE - AND THERE WAS ALWAYS SOMETHING TRANSIENT ABOUT BIG-BAND MUSICIANS IN THOSE DAYS - BUT I WAS NEVER A BIG BAND MUSICIAN AS I WENT FROM COLLEGE TO HAVING HIT RECORDS - AND WAS NEVER WITH A BAND - EVEN TO THIS DAY!
THEN OF COURSE MET HER AT THE BEVERLY HILLS TENNIS CLUB ON AN ALMOST EVERY WEEK-END BASIS AS YOU ALREADY KNOW AS SHE WAS VERY SWEET - TO EVERYBODY. UNTIL FINALLY ONE DAY FOUND MYSELF ON HE SET OF “PAJAMA GAME” AND SAW HER AND WORKED ON THE FILM ON A PROFESSIONAL BASIS. YOU HAVE THE STORY SO ALL I NEED TO ADD TO IT IS THAT SHE WAS SURPRISED AS SHE KNEW ME DURING MY “GROWING UP” PHASE - AND THE REST YOU KNOW ABOUT - ONE OF THE SWEETEST WOMEN I HAVE EVER MET. SO DOWN-TO-EARTH - THAT IT WAS QUITE WONDERFUL TO EVEN SAY I KNEW HER - AND I’M SURE MY BROTHER BOBBY WILL CONCUR!
If you had to classify her as a singer would you classify her as a big band singer, a jazz singer, a pop singer or a combination of all.?
I DON’T UNDERSTAND THE “BIG BAND SINGER” REFERENCE SO PLEASE SEE THE ABOVE AND THAT SHOULD ANSWER YOUR QUESTION.
What is your opinion of the glorification of jazz singers, on the one hand, and disregard for the traditional pop singers, on the other hand, that is apparent today in music critique and some scholarly work?
IT’S SO OBVIOUS - A BIG BAND SINGER SANG THE MELODY EXACTLY AS WRITTEN AND A JAZZ SINGER AD-LIBS MORE OF THE MELODY AND DOES NOT ADHERE TO THE “EXACT” MELODY. “DORIS VS. ELLA”. BUT STRANGELY ENOUGH ELLA NEVER EVER VEERED FROM THE MELODY ON THE 77 SONGS I ARRANGED FOR HER AS THEY WERE EITHER COLE PORTER OR RODGERS & HART SONGS OR NEW POP SINGLES AND I DIDN’T WANT TO VEER AWAY FROM THEM AS THEY WERE EITHER BRAND NEW SINGLES SONGS OR BROADWAY SHOW TUNES I WANTED DONE EXACTLY AS WRITTEN WITH A LITTLE TWIST AND TURN ALONG THE WAY - BUT THE SONGBOOKS REPRESENTED A BRAND NEW “FRANCHISE” AND SINCE I CREATED THEM I DID NOT WANT ANYTHING BUT THE WORLD’S BEST PURVEYOR OF ANY SONG TO SING THE ONES I DID STRAIGHT BUT ONLY WITH ELLA’S “TWIST” ON THE MELODY AND NO SCAT!!! SHE CONCURRED WITH ME ON ALL OF THAT AND ACTUALLY HAD ME SING EACH SONG TO HER WHEN WE REHEARSED TOGETHER EXACTLY THE WAS I WANTED IT SUNG. THOSE WERE WONDERFUL MOMENTS!!!
Please write more stories about Doris Day, you most probably know more about her than anybody else.
NOT TRUE - IWROTE AS MUCH AS I SAW HER AS A CHILD AND KNEW HER AS A TEENAGER - AND WORKED ON PAJAMA GAME WITH HER WHEN I BECAME “SOMEONE.”
Now that I know about the great work you did with so many fine singers , it would have been great had you worked with Doris Day on some recordings.
SHE NEVER HIRED ME. I WAS TOO JAZZY FOR HER AND I DON’T THINK MITCH MILLER OR PERCY FAITH OR THOSE GUYS LIKED MY WORK - IT WAS A LITTLE OVER-BEARING AND TOOK AWAY FROM MOST MELLIFLUOUS SINGERS.
She’s such a great singer and the two of you could have worked magic together.
I GUESS SO BUT WHAT I JUST SAID ABOVE PROBABLY APPLIES WHY WE DIDN’T WORK TOGETHER.
I’ll have to get some recordings you did with Ella.
COLE PORTER AND ROFGERS & HART + 7 SINGLES - THAT’S THE SUM TOTAL.
Hope to hear from you and wishing you all the best.
SAME TO YOU VELDA.
BUDDY BREGMAN
PS. My web site is: www.dorisdayicon.com