Keter Betts

Speaker This silver doesn’t if you want. I don’t see you here, I’m afraid.

Speaker I’m worried about how I’m looking at the upside, of course. You were in France.

Speaker What did I do? Which.

Speaker I mean, she made his ideas become true. He began he was a pioneer in saying that we can put jazz in his place and we can do this. And it worked out because before.

Speaker Just before Jazz Philharmonic, especially the Europe that was basically set bands that went over and so forth here. He took a group of different people and so forth and flung them on the grapevine and became a big thing.

Speaker Also, a lot of that was with the help of a less well known banana was with the help of William Carlos. The come over after World War Two went to Congress and I was doing Jazz and Voice of America. And they didn’t want to be funny, but he finally got to do so. This went on behind the Iron Curtain and throughout all of Europe of jazz and solo and yes, Philharmonic came and so forth.

Speaker And so his people could see the things and hear the music that was completely different from dance a certain point. And Norman was the pioneer.

Speaker The officer heard that Moomin to some extent and interfered in her personal life. If you know somebody calling you.

Speaker Suspicious? Well, of course, I’m on the East Coast and here on the West Coast. I never did see much of. If that’s if that’s true, that’s probably a lot of people. I see a lot of people. I’ve heard of some cases of different people and they become worried because their peers may decide they want to settle down and so forth. So, you know, she never talked much about about nothing because basically she was saying how to put this. She was on 24 hours.

Speaker Music playing on a plane. She’s first class and then back in the low student Westminster studio wants to see you.

Speaker I love it. You know, I was just sitting here thinking over to so-and-so. Bap, bap, bap, bap. Do you remember that? Yeah. Well, sort of. Let’s see if we can do an arrangement on that and maybe we’ll make other arrangements.

Speaker And she was constantly seems to sit there and just sing songs and try to remember when I think when they finally. I don’t know if they finally ended up, but how many thousands and thousands of songs. And she has recorded and sang. And it amazed me that somebody no audience would call up some. She’s somewhere in 20 years. See, know how you pick it up anyway. And also in the wordstar coming to her and saying it’s almost like Total Recall. And then the melody comes, then comes back and you start watching and hearing things like this and you’re saying. Mm hmm. You think about it. Casey, why? His idea that there was intelligent rain that circles the Earth and. It can set down at Mouzon and most unusual places and give people a certain amount of talent, just like you find some see some girl from India and some small little village can count faster computer. Any early age child prodigies. Perfect pitch. People have total recall. That’s a gift. And if I landed, you fell out of the city, is it? That was a gift. So when people say touched by an angel, which is very public show, I’m saying I’m working with an angel.

Speaker You know, they have all this ability to go one thing to the other.

Speaker What are the most quick things is how hard is he lost? And especially the children.

Speaker And she also believed in when she would do benefit. Then she then she wouldn’t take any money from the manager. I got a call one day from down in Maryland that I just spent five million dollars on a new Peter withinside, and they wanted to name the elephant to jail. And they said they want to make some for somebody like me when they know how to get in touch. And they knew I worked with it. So I gave him the office number. They call the office and they set it up. And we went down in Eastern Shore and health facility. And did the show. And the mayor the governor came down with a plaque letting up about three years later.

Speaker Well, we having a fund raiser, scholarship fund. So she said she would come and do a benefit for her and she did a benefit. Well, say they don’t pay any money at all. She pays for these instruments transplantation. And that was the raise scholarship for something like two hundred thousand dollars for a scholarship.

Speaker She was very benevolent in causes, quiet ESCAP and children. And, you know, she’s very big with the world children thing in any way. But there was a lot of a humanitarian ship when a person makes them need to see what she thinks of.

Speaker Did you visit the watch?

Speaker No, I never did. Whenever we would get out, the mother would come out there. Actually, we were going to work at the Hollywood Bowl.

Speaker We’re going to rehearse for a few days and so forth. But the one that they had that night, they had this all star who was in a big tent. So all movie stars and everything goes. Henry Fonda wasn’t into it. And he was backstage. And you said the off the this is Skeeter births and so forth. And he was shaking. And I said, Are you nervous? And he said, no. He said, somebody put a picture of my for twenty five thousand dollars and I don’t think it was worth it. And then there was I was amazed. And then he went on to introduce you still needs to be very high.

Speaker Oh. Until the first four bars. And I’ve seen best. I feel this a jam packed the home.

Speaker All right. And go first with buzz.

Speaker It’s not as if we’re in a war, which is good.

Speaker You know, I’m definitely isn’t he isn’t thinking about it and so forth and seeing it. Then I can see that this is good because you’re preparing yourself each time to go and do your best. Whether those are souls snuggle secure. Oh, yeah.

Speaker Oh, that’s bringing stuff up and doing.

Speaker She was also known to be. Wouldn’t mimic other singers.

Speaker One. I wasn’t there but the gentleman term a couple of times. Jazz Festival. He told me about one she and band. I was up in Newport and he said he saw the. Thank goodness things have happened at the end, which seemed to come out and do you lot like I told you. Take on where she and Paul Gonzalez do this. They and.

Speaker For some reason, Paul couldn’t get votes to come out of his home.

Speaker And so when they come down from his after that first time happening to him.

Speaker So I have to come to his team and just make time and says they didn’t have to deal with that, didn’t it? But in the his father had to do the plan and make an effective.

Speaker It is an angel’s serve and in Washington, Billie Holiday. They all have their own individual voice. They didn’t copy anybody. They had their own style and their own voice. And that’s when I said to the great system, the vote is the human voice because that person makes their own instrument.

Speaker She.

Speaker Did she ever use mimicry in conversation?

Speaker No.

Speaker Basic goods when we were out were we would be out, you know, like with the group. So they go someplace to eat after. What now?

Speaker Maybe people just, you know how then that’s it. No, she never used anything, Remicon Anybody. That’s what you’re trying to shield it to a certain extent. You like people when you sit down to eat and send someone across with the can when they want to reach across Gessen’s, you’ve got to fall onto your mouth and so forth. I mean, just blocked there.

Speaker But I can’t think of a.

Speaker There’s a lot of good hearted person.

Speaker Then she was two people she’d come to the difficulties of life. This is what happens when they’ve learned how to have come to life, where they didn’t have and when they don’t get. They know how to appreciate it compared to those who’ve never had to go through that. They also like it. They don’t know how to appreciate it. They oh, over using an abundance. And next thing you know, they’re.

Speaker Did he talk to you about the difficulties of life? Pretty rough times. She’s a kid, did she ever talk to you about?

Speaker No, I really never talk much. She just said that they move to Yonkers and.

Speaker That I went still the depression, too. And there’s a lot of people who have it pretty good. But then.

Speaker If you raise up to 10, what do you know what is better? You know, I look at them. In my case, I was born in twenty eight. So we didn’t approach whether we had a break, 40 beans and rice as a kid. Good. You know, if anything is better than that. What do you mean? No, I don’t.

Speaker I think the best part that when I look at it from where I’m from the kids at. Grew up in neighborhoods.

Speaker There was no there was no crime active. But I mean, crossing a log on and were going to within the families. And the object was to. Get an education. William, I’m going to be in, pull myself out of this environment.

Speaker And if I get good enough to pull my family out of my parents out, and so they all went on because I’m looking at it.

Speaker When you were in a hole and you look around and you see kids, you get good close in on this and so forth, and then you say you certainly can stand in this hole and say, oh, we have low self-esteem.

Speaker I don’t have a thing. Have this pulled in the dirt. And all you’re doing is burying yourself. But. If you look around, I say, OK. And you pull a guilty verdict, step on postmodernity, step up. I see that the hole is getting smaller and smaller before you’re not getting out of the hole. And that’s a matter of pulling yourself through life and being captain of your own ship.

Speaker After a Shemya, fortunes changed to courses for. And that didn’t take very long. She was pretty well known. And some people like you have paid a lot of dues.

Speaker A very hard way. So where did she come from? Like. Did you ever hear anybody?

Speaker Well. To voice whether one of the things that happened was. The voice still sounded so young.

Speaker Because when people see this was it would take you subsiding, Zamana, I should say this, that was a Shirley Temple.

Speaker I like it, but it’s this. Go see Shirley Temple. She was attacked. That’s what she’s saying. Yeah. As she got older. Made it harder for her to get movies because people are so used to seeing them younger. But now what a singer. Well, you don’t see in your face you hear this young voice and then sing.

Speaker It’s only a school year as young boys.

Speaker And then they go to see this. Said, I said 15 years ago, he said there is a difference compared to how you look.

Speaker You said she kept it. You.

Speaker Yeah, definitely. It really didn’t stop. I would say. When was our last job? Ninety three.

Speaker I think I last the last one we played was down in Florida at West Palm Beach for the opening of the Kravis Center.

Speaker And.

Speaker It was probably the last three years of us singing. The voice was starting to get a little bit lower, you know, used. Used which age? Is the whole it. And so we dropped the keys. Normally, he’s up and down maybe a half ton in our hotel and a half. But that’s I mean, that’s a process in nature.

Speaker No. Over the years, there were some criticism of Ella. Should really have a style. To do anything and she didn’t. What do you think?

Speaker I’ll give you a perfect example. Some years ago, before John Miles Davis said something in Namby, Dianella wasn’t the true singer.

Speaker And.

Speaker They came out with a plan to deliver. And then somewhere about. Twelve, thirteen, fourteen years ago, we had to do a thing in Los Angeles, so was a black achievement award and it was the top recipient of this.

Speaker And they had all of these different people. That’s where I met Howard Rollins. And then he had just come on the Hollywood scene before he got into that. So just something, uh. So just tell. And then he went on to go on the thing with Carroll O’Connor and.

Speaker Had all of these. And everybody was broken. We went on, alas, and Miles Davis was sitting there with Cicely Tyson because an and burned on the bandstand.

Speaker And as we finish him up after he gave her the award and as Miles go to the press, there is a cane.

Speaker Yes, you do realize that I take back what I said about the Downby.

Speaker So I led by SESAR Miles coming to tell you, takes back what he said.

Speaker She said, look, I say this is the God’s honest truth to us, that they actually have an effort on my behalf fixes.

Speaker She did. She did. So I said to my thrilled that she just went off.

Speaker Other people said she couldn’t sing the blues.

Speaker People were canceling everything. She fell asleep.

Speaker She we talked about their credibility. And she even sings the rules and she doesn’t dance. We did recorded. I was live with the bass player, as you said. Was that who said I will go through that through with some other singers.

Speaker They say that is I don’t believe I can sing the blues.

Speaker Blues singers who can sing ballads. Me dancing like a loser, he couldn’t sing and then helped shelter him and so forth.

Speaker He was a balladeer. So given that criticism, one way or the other, you do what you do best. It’s. And they don’t like what you tell them to come sing.

Speaker I have a couple of the videotapes of your performing in small clubs. Oh. She seemed to be much more relaxed, much funnier in concert. Yeah.

Speaker Well, because she does seem better since she started developed in public with the eyes. She had been used to being close. And we started developing problems with the eyes when we were playing big concert halls. We’re talking about. We had to make sure, uh, that she was at least five to six feet from the edge of the stage and put down and put that white tape so she could see that audiences 10 or 15 feet away. Clubs. That’s right. You get more of a spontaneous response when you’re close to people.

Speaker So what we would do is step up and to Vancouver. We work the Fairmont chain.

Speaker Uh, San Francisco. Dallas, New Orleans. We do that. And we did a few years. Fifteen, sixteen, seventeen years. We would wait two or three weeks. Then all your hotel in Toronto.

Speaker Vegas at the Flamingo. When you close the freeway, you get more of a rubber.

Speaker I was showing the videotape to a. Tommy Flanagan. Hello. Was it a small club singing The Man? Oh, and at one point she kind of looked smile. He said she’s going to somebody in.

Speaker But what do you think she needed more respected musicians worthy the applause of the audience.

Speaker Well, I think she had to respect is.

Speaker Because everybody that I know just, you know, because you can always have, regardless of who you are, you’re always going to have a few.

Speaker They’re going to say that, you know, that’s that’s normal.

Speaker You’re not out to prove anything. You’re out there to prove something to yourself. And if we find out that the world enjoys what you do and that’s what you can.

Speaker Could she have? Did she have perfect pitch?

Speaker Just about a on her. How did she do it? She she she just had.

Speaker Is that, like I said, about circling the earth with it? It’s perfect pitch. She blew it. She knew her voice and she knew.

Speaker I do think sometimes when I do a workshop thing that I’ll take a pen and pencil and show a person and then say, touch them, I’ll touch in some places. And then once you put your hand, put your finger right. We don’t touch it until something happens to you. And it’s by three times. Now, this is where you should write an instrument, is it?

Speaker What to when you put your finger exactly where you are? So what you find out is that you’re not playing this or you’re playing yourself. We’re coming to.

Speaker She nearly.

Speaker What she can do, vocalize. She knew what her range was and so forth. And that’s really when she was the end. She really wanted to go out today where she could do herself her.

Speaker There you go. You played with quite a few different players.

Speaker Started off with Tommy Flanagan when I went back.

Speaker Came up here to New York to do so much to do the Americana.

Speaker Was Jimmy Jones, 66.

Speaker I went to Europe to do five weeks before in Berlin. I was t crossing 38.

Speaker And when I came back in 71, I was Tommy Flanagan. Seventy one is Tommy Flanagan. And I think Ben and Tommy stayed.

Speaker When I first went the time he was with and then he went with Tony Bennett. But I was there. And Thomas day nineteen seventy four. Seventy six. And then we had Paul Smith.

Speaker Then we started going to some different ones that down at me for sure, short while. Jimmy rolls past mid and. We ask him how the different ways. And then Mike Warford was with us here.

Speaker Oh, just hold for a second, shall we?

Speaker So please quit, just quit. Oh. These people in they were all very different, could you describe some of the difference relative to the.

Speaker Each one was his interpretation of what the songs were to be. I mean I mean, how how to play the song.

Speaker And I just, you know, to each one there was don’t tell me.

Speaker It’s basically Tommy who also has perfect pitch and cover anything, but he also was a bad piano player. And then it was like razors that we had or so he would play into man arrangements, which always gives the singer another would say, like, we’re doing the basic thing.

Speaker I found out that he’d been playing a band arrangement. So he always felt comfortable with that. But.

Speaker She had to adjust and we had to adjust and. Different person now, different different thoughts, different ideas.

Speaker Do you have a favorite?

Speaker I say this is the say that.

Speaker Yeah. Someone said to me, a. If you knew Ella, you would want to take care of her. You would want to protect her.

Speaker You would know you would you would get she’s fired.

Speaker Yeah, we became. It’s just that.

Speaker When she started having difficulty with the eyes and whatnot, she. We would. She was very private and business was her business. He came to himself. And so when she’s done in Texas, be very careful about her walk ins with the stage set up to make sure that they had the white tape that she would see. Unfortunately for him to close. So I was always a threat. Hello. I’m here. And I would yell back up a back up, but one time at the Hollywood Bowl.

Speaker We were playing some some really musical and I looked up. She’s getting kind of close before I could yell. She fell.

Speaker I was just thinking she knew that she wanted to see the people listen that night. And she just wanted to see how it happened. And she just she tripped and fell backwards. I fell for you. I kept on saying this like nothing.

Speaker So that’s human. And so with second.

Speaker This little girl called me, that is, you know, I want to make major will take care of her. She could use that to get her own way. Right.

Speaker So let’s tell you the. I won’t tell you that one of the greatest things to them aside from that. Thing up in Kalamazoo, Michigan. I had forgotten about it. And last year I was doing the radio show and the guy called me, reminded me.

Speaker We came into Washington National Airport and used it seemed like little something. She was under the weight of the basket and she decided to come in. Well, we went for days and there was a really large Pete. Oh, sweet people. The lap of that. And the lady was a little baby and this baby started taking the roof off. I mean, just read me and everybody and allergies stop.

Speaker She went over and she started singing. And I said, let’s make this big. Oh, wait. Anything else? She sang Little Baby, don’t you cry. Do we. Do we did this fingers. Oh, you can say. Thank you. Those are names. His voice is stuck in that hole. Wait, no. Stop it. When she finishes something that may never sound like a Bystolic. Let us do the.

Speaker The. Tax returns were scheduled to raise Carmilla Smith and his tuxedo. She didn’t stop and you stayed.

Speaker Why did you say that was false from taxes? That was before I went.

Speaker Was that was I went with Libby, told me because they were 50 weeks of.

Speaker What I want is 64. I think. I think it was something like forty four weeks that year. And when that went back, I see in 68 I go back to what is different. I’ll start back at 71.

Speaker We had we came down about thirty six weeks year to thirty four workers in that vicinity because a lot of that was two or three weeks. They put a fair amount chain at different hotels. We’d go like do three weeks be off a couple of weeks ago to three reasons. Same thing. Then we had in Europe in one day. This is the longest.

Speaker What we did was and we did a 13 retool. Eleven weeks and one that is the last two weeks was a week in London and a week in Sheffield. I lost 18 pounds.

Speaker Let’s change. Give me a description of someone like Levon Rizzo and then we would go.

Speaker That was the longest land of time we did. Let me say one liners.

Speaker And then usually we’ll be over five weeks, three weeks, two weeks near the end.

Speaker We did a couple of a one on one one night appearance.

Speaker We did England and never had a radio jazz radio in London. Never had a jazz radio station. And when they got I think that was ho ho. Eighty six something. And they had the basic Barney Frank foursomes in our I’m for that. That was a 180. We also did one night in Paris. The wife of former President Mitt Novar was having a benefit for children’s artists, for children’s organization and and gods with the 100th anniversary of the Roman ruins. So, you know, the French love all will be stars. The cast of that we did is at the moment a huge Ray Charles and the other and all of these movie stars make cameo appearances. So we went upstairs to the green room.

Speaker And I’m in this agreement and I’m sad.

Speaker His daughter is studying Jane well, so it’s written on down in this room, in the same room. And each one that you see is subconscious mind goes to a movie. As I talk in the mornings around being in love with Shane Watson, the outlaw, I mean, all of them. They’re all human beings. Hammett talking and this and that. And when was when it was over and we came downstairs as all these fans out there, all these people, just boilen and dance in more about this time as this has shrunk since mother. And she said, I don’t know how I’m going to get through this. That’s it. I got the basis that hold onto my coat. And I’ll I’ll be a blocker, and I think the schools, the law schools are what? And I’m thinking I’m pushing people away with the baseball back. I used to say, oh, boy, what a night that was.

Speaker But you realize if you’re doing what you do best and you’re going around the world and making people happy. And that is a gift within itself.

Speaker And you happen to be a first class person who has taken her voice and made it a household name throughout the world.

Speaker So what more can you ask for?

Speaker Which you can’t really else.

Speaker I want to talk to him, we talk on the phone. She called a times and I call out there. And finally he said, I want to go see.

Speaker And this was the second amputation. Because when the last job he did is he just had some tools.

Speaker And so I used my mileage when a plane went up and then the car went to the house and stayed about five hours.

Speaker And somebody who’s using your headset and he said.

Speaker She was in and out and in and out. But this fellow.

Speaker I don’t know what to actually say. It’s in fact that a.

Speaker This person has. Touches so much about the world that you hold its obligations, you just sit and talk, and every now and then she’d be handing me my opinion about that was the bottom. And then I’d left. Go back to the airport in the car in. Wait a couple hours before the plane came back. Then call nobody out there and nothing anymore. And after the deserted. Well, it all went all of the benefits and everything that I have received at this association. And so I’ve wanted that was duly moderate, my respect and acknowledge. Give and whatever the circumstances are.

Speaker You were at. Yes, I was at the house.

Speaker They had a very, very short since a few people and I played this portable butterfly.

Speaker Bass solo. I just figured it, the butterflies. And they won the most beautiful creation of is it not only of the colors with what they do in life as they go on, they play for hours and they fly finally and a thousand more beautiful. And then with as we’re talking about the people in show business. Yes. I’m Lella in show business with other business to other fields of life that butterflies. They come and they pollinate people’s minds. And when they go away and it’s a case of music, you have c.D, and tapes and memories of seeing them and they fly away. So I decided to play this song called A Butterfly.

Speaker And at the end, you actually hear the butterfly wings and then watch the butterfly far away and.

Speaker It’s amazing how much she was loved. And I go to the airport and skycaps and I was coming in out of the base of welcome people walking up to.

Speaker This ends in hell is going on, so many people in this house strong, it touched so many people’s basic guilt.

Speaker These are the true I guess we’ll see how I put this of taking their talents, God given, and exposing it to the world. And, you know, here any type of altercations and fighting and this led to stumble gas compared to the other, taking his life because it’s too is more sophisticated and this more intelligent.

Speaker And even dumb people take a life into it because of the fact that he said it like it is just the.

Speaker You see reason and so big in Europe at the time was because of the fact that I mean, it hits a big back in the late 20s or 30s because Europe is basically classical on local folk. And they never heard anything that would become a place of spontaneous without music. And that’s what all of this rhythm. And that’s what.

Speaker If you had to pick one song. That said, Bella.

Speaker Hello. Oh, boy.

Speaker There was enough is enough to use the bus and they would tell the Madalena.

Speaker That had some everything in and it was like about seven or eight minutes, so that was one. It was you hear nothing right now, but it was filled up. That was the one that I used to really, really live for. That’s all.

Speaker And I guess for balance, she keeps saying.

Speaker Every time we say goodbye.

Speaker Yeah, that was Andrew saying that you love to do that’s missing in Europe and in England, that was that was a big hit over there.

Speaker Well, that was a song.

Speaker You put that in part of your life and you’re saying, like, I’m saying goodbye to you.

Speaker No problem. I’ll see you next year. Maybe that’s.

Speaker Those are the two songs that is about it, and the other one is up to. It’s really the.

Speaker What do you think is Analysts’ legacy?

Speaker And legacy is. To give that some thought, but I would probably say to.

Speaker So. There were other show people in jail and decided. But also saying is that.

Speaker You first must have it within yourself. Then once you have it within yourself and develop it within yourself. Then you bring it out to the world and see how the world accepts it. We will accept it. You keep improving on it. No, stop laughing at a certain level and they stop and they go along just like this. She kept improving, keep improving all the time, sitting on a plane. I’m sitting at a restaurant.

Speaker It’s like I was like a chef. You see, a chef is always sharpening his knife saying stuff is good. He’s doing this. So when it comes time to cut his life short.