Interview: P.J. Proby (Part One)

P.J. Proby

P.J. Proby is an icon, a titan of the music industry, you name it and he's done it. He was born James Marcus Smith and from the time he was twelve he began singing. He's worked with Elvis, The Beatles, Led Zeppelin (The band's first recorded appearance was on P.J.'s album "Three Week Hero", The Who, The Doors, and on and on and on. I recently had the opportunity to sit down with P.J. and had an hour and a half long career spanning interview with him. No topics were off limits, and I assure you, P.J. didn't hold back one bit! This is part one...

FZ: How did you first get involved in music?

PJ: I started out when I was twelve, on the radio, Biff Colley’s “Cracker Barrel Corner“, me and Tommy Sands and then one day Biff came over to us and said “Saturday, you guys are playing at the same place you always play, at the Hitchin’ Post out on South Main [in Houston, Texas], ther’ll be a new boy joining you and you’ll meet him then. His name is Elvis Presley and I’ll introduce you to him. So Saturday, Tommy and I were introduced to Elvis. Elvis took a shine to my stepsister and he started dating her. Neither one of them knew, Tommy or Elvis, that they were dating the same girl. Tommy didn’t know that Elvis was over at the house seeing her, and Elvis knew nothing about Tommy. I had to keep it that way…that was in the summer of ’54.

FZ: How did you begin to work with Elvis, I’ve heard you wrote some songs for him?

PJ: I wrote one for Elvis…I did motion pictures for Elvis, I sang his demonstration records, written by Ben Weismman and Ruth Batchelor, all the music he had to do in the movies. I went down at nine or ten in the morning and did ‘em, then they were shipped to him at five in the afternoon for him to record himself because during the daytime he was too busy filming to do his recordings.

FZ: What was Elvis like around that time? Was he a good guy?

PJ: He’s always been a good guy; He was a good guy to a fault! Anytime he saw anybody that needed anything, they had it whether they liked it or not.

On The Beatles

FZ: In 1964, you appeared on a television special called, “Around the Beatles”, could you tell us about that event and how that opportunity arose?

PJ: One night, my wife and I were sittin’ on the floor eating tacos by candlelight and there’s a knock on the door. I grab my .45 and I said, “Honey, go to the door and see who that is.” So she went to the door, opened the door and there was Sharon Sheeley and Jackie DeShannon. I said, “Well, hello ladies, what brings you up here?” They said, “We brought someone to see you.” With that, a figure parted them and walked towards me. Now, I hadn’t had any money from Liberty Records for two and a half months so I couldn’t afford a haircut and my hair was down to my shoulders. This figure walked and pulled my hair, yanked it and said, “My God it’s real, you’re hired dear boy! Be at CBS tomorrow at ten o’clock.” With that, he turned on his heels and disappeared into the night. I said, “What the hell was that Sharon?” She said, “That was Jack Good the big promoter from England I told you about that promoted the shows for Eddie [Cochran].

So the next day Sharon picked me up and took me to the studios and I cut a pilot for Jack Good called “Young America Swings the World”. I got to know Jack very good, we became very close friends…I went over one day [to his house] and he said, “Jim, Jim, Jim I must leave for England. You know the picture on the wall of the boys having a pillow fight and you asked who they were and I said they were The Beatles and they would someday be very famous, and you said ‘No one will ever be famous who has pillow fights. Could you imagine Elvis Presley having his picture taken havin’ a pillow fight with Ricky Nelson?’ Well they are very famous now and they are having a television special done for them via satellite…I have to go over and direct and produce it. I’ll take your records and I’ll play them for their manager Mr. Brian Epstein and see if Mr. Epstein and the boys would like to have you on the show.”

I didn’t think any more about it because I didn’t think much of The Beatles to tell you the truth. I was used to people like The Ames Brothers and The Four Freshmen and The Four Lads. Beautiful harmonies and The Beatles couldn’t harmonize like them worth a shit! I mean, I thought The Beach Boys were crap and I started out with them even before they were famous because they were copying a group I had known called Jan and Dean…who couldn’t sing either! But, the teenagers liked the way they sing. You see, I call a singer Frank Sinatra and Tony Bennett. If you can’t sing ballads like that then you’re not a singer. I don’t know what you are; I just thought you were a commercial piece of shit.

Anyway, Jack left and about four or five days later I got a call in my apartment house. I had split with my wife because I came home one night and found she had left and taken all the furniture and all my clothes and given them to her boyfriend and left a pair of blue girls panties in the middle of the room with my hunting knife through ‘em and a note saying, “If they fit, where them.” She had given all my underwear away! So I was wearing girl’s underwear which you have to wash everyday because they are made out of satin and silk and all that crap.

I was in the hotel room when the phone rang and this voice said, “Hello Mr. Proby. Vivian Moynihan from Rediffusion Television in London, England calling. I am calling on behalf of Brian Epstein and The Beatles. I heard you are trying to do nothing more than learn your lines for Othello.” I said, “Yes ma’am, that’s about all I’m doing.” So she said, “The boys would like you to come over and do a guest spot on their television show, would you like to do that?” So I said, “Yes ma’am, I’d love to do that!” She said, “I thought that would be your answer. There’s a ticket for you at LA International Airport. No doubt I’ll see you around. Goodbye!”.

With that, I was just stunned. I called my friend Nan Morris, who was secretary to Rock Hudson, and I was dating her friend Tuesday Weld and I told the girls, “Listen, I got to be at the airport tomorrow at ten o’clock and I’ve got no clothes to wear!” So they came over and first they took me to Troy Donahue’s house and Troy lent me some sweaters, some pullovers…then they took me over to Warner Brothers where I had a contract as an actor so I could get on the lot. I went straight to wardrobe and stole Paul Newman’s shirt from “Left Handed Gun”, and Russ Tamblan’s boots from “Seven Brides for Seven Brothers”.

So I put on a pair of old dirty blue jeans I had, and I put Paul Newman’s shirt on with Russ Tamblan’s dancing boots…and the girls took me to the airport and gave me twenty dollars to buy a bottle of bourbon because I couldn’t afford drinks on the plane. I’d just get cokes and sneak the bourbon in it; and away I flew.

When the plane landed…I got to the front passenger door and was about to exit and there at the bottom of the stairs was a big long Rolls Royce, Jack Good and all the press and TV cameras. Jack was saying, “Jim, Jim, Jim, Welcome to England!” The press was yelling, “P.J.! P.J.! Do something British! You see, Jack had lied and told them I was a big star in Hollywood. He had lied to The Beatles and told them the same thing, which was how I had gotten over here. I didn’t know what to do, so I though, “Winston Churchill”, and I threw two fingers up in the air. “Wrong!”

The next day, I went over and started rehearsing with all the cast with the exception of The Beatles. The day after that we went to Rediffusion and in came The Beatles and we started rehearsing with them. I was introduced to all The Beatles and John Lennon and I struck it off immediately because we were both around the same age, and we were both...well, he was still married and mine was just busted up.

So, we went to lunch that day, and at the table I was sitting there having a sandwich when I heard this voice, “Give us a song then P.J.”.I turned around and I couldn’t see anybody. Then this newspaper sloooowly started coming down and this head appeared. It was Paul McCartney. And he said, “Sing us a song now P.J.”, and I said, “Sing to yourself you son of a bitch, I’m having lunch!” So, Paul didn’t speak to me from then on; fifteen days he wouldn’t speak to me.

At the end of the fifteen days when we were going to film, all The Beatles drew our names out of a hat [to introduce us] and I found out that Paul had drawn mine. So, I thought to myself, “Well, he’s not gonna do me any favors. I’m just gonna get on there, do my spot, get on the next airplane, and get back to Hollywood.” So I was just about to go on and Paul turned around to introduce me and said, “Now Ladies and Gentlemen, our dear friend, our best friend from Hollywood, California. His first appearance ever on television in England. P.J. Proby!” It shocked me so much, that I almost didn’t step onto my mark and go before the cameras.

After that, Paul and I became very good friends. What he was doing was testing me to see if I was as good as Jack Good had made out I was. So I passed the test and we’ve been friends ever since!
 

FZ: What was John Lennon like?

PJ: I stayed very very close friends with John Lennon most of all. I’d go over to John’s house and Cynthia would cook me southern fried chicken and all kind of Texas food and everything. John and I would go up to his little room – Cynthia had given him one whole floor at the top of the house for himself and he had painted it all matte black and all matte red. That’s where he did his music and he had one room full of toy cars and a big racetrack and we would just race toy cars all day and play music.

FZ: You actually recorded a song that was written by John Lennon & Paul McCartney called “That Means A Lot”. How did that come about?

PJ: Well, we all went to a nightclub called The Ad-Lib. The Beatles would go there, I went there, everybody went there that was in show business. The Beatles were at a table one day and I went over to John – I hadn’t seen him in a few weeks – and I said, “John you son of a gun, why don’t you write me a song? You write Peter & Gordon songs, You wrote one for Mary Hopkins, and here you guys brought me all the way over from Hollywood and you don’t write me anything!” [Lennon responded], “Oh P.J. we’ll write you something.”

 So another week went by and I was up there at the Ad-Lib, The Beatles were already there and I walked straight by them. As I walked by them, John said, “P.J., I’ve got you a song.” I said, “What’s that?” “I’ve got a number for you, you wanted a number and I’ve got it.” So I said, “Well John I was only half-ass joking!” and he said, “Well here you are, I wasn’t,” and he handed me the demo and I said, “Well thank you friend. Do you think you can get…George Martin to produce it for me?” So John says, “My God, he doesn’t just want me music he wants me arranger at the same time!” And he did, he arranged that too. That was the only record I ever did where George Martin produced the whole session.

Part Two will be posted shortly. Topics include recording a song written for him by John Lennon, meeting Jimmy Page, using Led Zeppelin as his backing band, taking over for Jim Morrison in The Doors, and touring with The Who. 

(P.J. is currently on tour, go to this site if you would like to see when and where he is playing so that you might be able to check him out: http://www.pjproby.net/)

Here is Part Two: P.J. Proby Interview Part Two