- Place – United Kingdom & The USA
- Time – 1991 – 1999
- Artist – Anthony Newley
This is the final blog from my memories and times with Anthony Newley
When PolyGram records withdrew their offer
to make a TV advertised album with Tony, deciding to sign the actor Ian McShane instead, he was very upset.
I decided to make an offer to Tony, to pay all the costs and produce the album at my own studio.
We decided to record several new songs mixed with a few re-records of some of his classics.
After the material was chosen we spent time picking the keys and discussing the arrangements, I then set about recording the backing tracks.
Who Could I Turn to?
All was fine, until we came to record, Who Can I Turn To.
I made the mistake of giving the arranger a copy of Tony’s original recording from back in the sixties.
When we came to record Tony’s vocal it was crystal clear after the first run through the key was completely wrong.
Although, Tony did his best it sounded awful.
Tony explained, “Kenny, this is the key I used to sing in, thirty years ago it’s much to high for me now”
I was now in trouble as I needed this track not only as it was a classic song of Tony’s, but to complete the number of songs needed to finish the album.
I told Tony, with my fingers crossed behind my back,
“That didn’t sound too bad at all, it’s really worth trying it one more time.”
The second time was marginally better but still completely unusable, so I told him excitedly,
“Tony that was fabulous that was almost there.”
Tony losing confidence said, “Kenny, I really don’t think I can do this.”
I continued with real enthusiasm saying,
“Well, you may not be enjoying it but it I’m loving it, it sounds amazing, if you are up to it let’s just give it one more go.”
The next take, he gave it everything I mean everything he had to give and it was a performance neither of us really thought he could deliver.
I was so pleased, not just because I needed a track to complete the full number of recordings but I couldn’t imagine the album without this classic song.
Anthony Newley One of His Final Recording Sessions
I witnessed many times how emotional Tony could be
When I’d finished mixing the recordings, Tony arrived at the studio to listen to a full playback of the album.
When the song, Nearly Wonderful had finished I looked over at Tony and he had tears streaming down his face.
I had to ask why.
He told me the song was written about his third wife Dareth Rich whom he was married to for eighteen years.
They dated for one year after getting together in 1970 and married in 1971.
In 1989, 18 years later, they divorced.
They had two children, Christopher and Shelby.
Sue and I met Shelby several times, she was adorable.
We only met Christopher once, he was a very well grounded polite young man who we had only ever heard good things about.
Both children, had ignored the industry that made their father famous and never used the Newley name.
Anthony Newley and Kenny Denton at KD’s Studio 1998. I’m the one on the left (Just joking)
Where an early exorcism may have helped
In 1988 Tony and his wife Dareth purchased Joan Crawford’s house, 426 N. Bristol Ave, Los Angeles 90049 from the American dancer, singer and actor Donald O’Conor.
Knowing of the book and movie, Mommie Dearest, which Christina, Joan Crawford’s daughter penned, I asked Tony if he had ever been in the basement of the property.
It wasn’t surprising to me that he was completely unaware of the book or the movie.
But he did tell me that after purchasing the property they spent one million dollars over the next year renovating the home, during which time they discovered the house had a real vile atmosphere and ultimately they decided not to move in.
In 1989 Tony moved back to England after divorcing Dareth .
He went on to say, the new owners decided to have the house exorcised.
Sammy Davis Jr at the Coconut Grove
There was a time was when I played Tony one of my favourite Sammy Davis Jr performances from the live album Live At The Coconut Grove, again when the track finished, I could see he was drowning in tears, he looked over at me and simply said, “God, he was so talented.”
Tony moves to Esher Surrey
When I first went to visit Tony at his new home in Esher I had trouble finding the house. I phoned him several times saying I’m following your instructions but I keep ending up back in the one way system and I’m back where I started.
He told me to try again but when I saw the small, green park land to look for a couple of tiny slip roads, I should park on the one on the right and wait there, which I did.
A few minutes later I saw the at the top of the road the strange sight of Mr. Newley in his dressing gown and slippers walking towards me.
I drove up to meet him and said, “Tony jump in the car.” He replied “No, it’s fine, just following me.”
It was quite a surreal sight, for the next few minutes, I was driving slowly behind Tony walking in front of me in his night clothes, reminding me somewhat of the nursery rhyme Wee Willie Winkie.
Newley’s feelings about impersonators
I once asked Tony what he thought of Frank Gorshin’s impersonation of him?
It appeared he wasn’t a fan of any of the impersonators.
He said of Frank, “When I saw him for the first time I couldn’t move my hands on stage for the next year” They did later work together and became great friends.
In an interview, aired on the news at 6pm on April 14, 1977 for KXAS-TV Fort Worth, Texas, Tony was asked the same question concerning impersonation, his reply was as follows.
“The one who does the least unattractive one, I think is my good friend, Rich Little, uh, and he is particularly unkind.”
“I must say, after I’ve seen them do me, I do have to go to my room for a minute or two to sulk because it’s incredible because you never think you look like that.”
“I mean, you never stop to think how you move and how you sing.”
“Of course, when you see somebody do it, it really takes your breath away.”
“I realise, of course, that it’s the greatest form of flattery, but it’s a shock. It’s a shock, as it would be to anybody to see yourself copied like that.”
“But they always have to overdo it a bit you know, I guess, um, yeah, at first it really took me back. I mean, I couldn’t believe it. I thought it was unkind.”
“I realise, of course, that to people, recognise it immediately and you have to overdo it a bit, you know.”
The start of something strange
Through the 50s Tony had been working more and more in movies.
When he was cast in Idle On Parade, he asked if he could write a couple of songs for the movie.
To his surprise the songs entered the UK charts, this awakened a realisation that anything he chose to do had a chance of major success.
This led to taking chances for the next 14 years, breaking the mould with TV shows like Sammy, the precursor for the 1963 movie The Small World of Sammy Lee.
The TV drama Sammy
This program aired on March 26, 1958.
The plot was as follows:
Alone in his room, Sammy has three hours in which to raise the £200 that will save him from disaster. As the minutes pass he grows more desperate in his race against time, and in his attempt to forestall that fateful knock on the door.
Anthony Newley, was the only actor in this half-hour play, which won outstanding reviews for his performance and moved him further into stardom as a result.
Before the end of the same year, an Americanised version of the play (renamed Eddie) had played on US television, with the title role now played by Mickey Rooney.
This production was an Emmy-Award winner.
Unfortunately, there is no footage, as far as I’m aware that survived as the BBC’s policy back then to erase all shows from their libraries and reuse the tape.
Sammy was followed by several TV specials like, Most Promising Newcomer leading to, The Strange World of Gurney Slade, which may not have been fully understood at the time but is now revered as classics.
The original BBC TV version of Sammy was turned into a feature movie The Small World Of Sammy Lee in 1963.
The budget for the movie was £190.000 and made a loss of £50.000 at the box office.
Once again this movie is now considered a classic by many.
The hit singles
Between 1959-1962 Tony achieved 12 entries on the UK charts, never following any trend like most artists of the time.
When he recorded Strawberry Fair everyone around him thought this was a very strange choice.
He then chose to record, Pop Goes The Weasle followed by the quirkiest and the most bizarre of them all the single, That Noise.
With the success of TV shows, singles, stage shows, the USA beckoned and so, now married to Joan Collins, Hollywood became his home.
Tony could do nothing wrong until?
In 1969 he was offered a million dollars to write direct and star in any movie of his choice.
This would be, Can Heironymus Merkin Ever Forget Mercy Humppe and Find True Happiness?
I think that this was the turning point, as Tony never really recovered from the savage reviews and backlash, highlighting the fact that he could actually get things totally wrong.
This movie also instigated his divorce from his wife Joan Collins.
In the mid 1970s Tony’s movie, Quilp also bombed.
It was at that time he decided to played it safe making a very successful career in cabaret, along with TV appearances.
Returning to the UK with Mum
In 1989, Tony having divorced his third wife Dareth, returned to the UK with his mother Gracie and settled in Esher Surrey.
When I first met Tony’s mum, Grace, she was in her late eighties. I was immediately impressed by her wonderful straight forward, no-nonsense character.
She was a small lady with a high pitched cockney accent and always spoke her mind, which she was completely in control of even until her sad passing at just short of her 100th birthday.
Grace could always make anyone smile with her down-to-earth look at life.
When I first visited their home she asked me, “Would ya like a cuppa tea?”
I replied, “I’d love a coffee.”
“Coffee?” “What’s a cockney boy like you wanna drink that American rubbish for?”
I decided to go for the tea.
On another occasion we were all having breakfast when Tony asked Grace.
“Did you see that letter today from my old teacher?”
Gracie replied, “No, what teacher?”
“You know, she was the lesbian.” Tony said.
Gracie, in a surprised voice, said. “Tony, you da narf know some funny people.”
One very surreal evening
On the 6 April 1996, I was working on a Saturday afternoon when my wife Suzie came into the studio to tell me Tony was on the phone.
I immediately asked, if it was Tony or Newley, Sue said, “It’s Tony.”
That meant it was a personal call not a business one. He always used Tony for personal and Newley for business, I would of course have taken the call whatever.
Tony asked, what time my session was due to finish. I told him it should be around 6pm.
He then explained that he was to take the Duchess (Gracie) out for dinner that evening and asked if Sue and I like to join them.
I checked with Sue and told him we would love to.
Tony then explained that he had never been to any of the local restaurants in Esher where he lived so would Sue mind finding one and book a table.
Sue found a list of restaurants in Esher and called every one of them, only to find they were all fully booked.
I finished the session and called Tony to explain the situation and suggested the idea of bringing over a takeaway.
After a brief silence he said, “No, I have idea so just come over.”
We arrived at the house and Gracie was upstairs getting ready.
I explained to Tony because of the short notice it was impossible to find a table locally
He said it wasn’t a problem but still gave no clue as to his idea.
Once we were all in the car he gave directions for about 10 minutes or so, until we arrived at small almost deserted high street.
We parked up and the only place I could see open was a fish and chip shop so we all headed in that direction.
I knew of Tony’s love for Fish and chips, which we had many, many times whilst we were recording.
Tony led the way and on entering the shop there was a small queue of people waiting and ordering at the counter.
We followed Tony pass the queue to the back of the premises where there were 5 small tables, only one of which was occupied by a young couple.
This was beginning to feeling very surreal.
Once seated, a waiter arrived with a menu and asked if we would like a drink.
Gracie immediately said, “Yes, I would like a Harvey Wallbanger.”
“Mum they don’t serve that here.” Tony advised her.
Gracie replied, “Ok , I’ll just have a Screwdriver then.”
The waiter now spoke up to say, sorry madam we don’t have an alcohol licence.
Gracie settled for a glass of Cockney champaign, Coca-Cola.
Gracie Newley minus her Harvey Wallbanger.
We had the most wonderful evening and strangely for Saturday night, once the young couple had left, we had the room to ourselves.
I was talking about when I first met Tony and how much I loved the song Quilp, he started to sing the first few lines I then continued the next couple then we continued together, which I adored.
This really was a strange evening, sitting in a small out of the way fish & chip shop, singing a duet with Anthony Newley.
Tony told me that evening he was due to perform in Atlantic City the following week for 10 days (April 12-21) but was really not looking forward to it due to his failing health. To pull out though would have been a financial disaster as the casino would have sued, so – the show must go on.
The next day Tony phoned me to ask of we had enjoyed the evening. I said, “We both had a great time, but Sue was surprised by the venue.”
Tony laughed and said, “I think Suzie thinks I’m a little more classy than I am.”
Newley leaves the UK for the last time
December 28, 1998, Tony and Gina Fratini left for the United States to try and get some extra help with Tony’s deteriorating health situation.
Whenever Tony was away we would always phone Gracie throughout the week. On Saturdays we would take her to the pie and mash where she would have her weekly fix of jellied eels.
On Sunday 14 February 1999 with Tony and Gina still in the US, Sue and I decided to take Gracie out for a Valentine’s Day lunch.
I had a meeting back at the studio in Chiswick at 5pm so we picked Gracie up at 1pm and went to a restaurant a few minutes away in Esher.
Sue went in to make sure they had a table but not having booked and being Valentine’s Day there were no tables available.
We then embarked on a two hour journey around Surrey, only to find every restaurant was fully booked.
Now 3pm, we headed back to Esher we were not sure what to say to Gracie as she was so excited about eating out.
As we were passing the very first restaurant we went to, the car park looked a little emptier.
Sue popped in to check if there was table, and to my relief there was.
We had a wonderful meal but Gracie, love her, was slightly upset as she mentioned this was the first time she had hadn’t received flowers from Tony.
Gracie adored the restaurant and asked if I would make sure she had the address so she could come back with Tony when he returned.
The menu was a special large designed Valentine’s Day folding flower-shaped card.
I asked the waiter if we could keep one of them to give to Grace, with a large smile said, “Of course that’s fine.”
By 4.30 I was watching the clock, my studio meeting was drawing near.
As we left the restaurant with Gracie thinking we were some miles away from home, she spoke about how wonderful the countryside looked on this wonderful Sunday afternoon.
I didn’t have the heart to get her home in less than two minutes, so instead of turning left in the direction of her home, I turned right and we drove around for another 45 minutes or so before taking her home.
On seeing Grace safely indoors, she told us “When I speak to Tony tonight I’m going to tell him about this wonderful restaurant”, she wanted to take him to when he returned home.
I explained to Gracie that I had a meeting so we wouldn’t stop, but please give our love to Tony and Gina when she spoke to them that evening.
Sunday evening 21 February 1999
Sue and I had been watching Tony’s masterful performance playing the Bishop in a BBC TV drama called The Lakes. I believe this was his finest acting performance.
Gina Fratini told me some years later, that when Tony finished filming this part he told her “ At last, I have finally got it I now understand how acting works.” Sadly this was his last performance.
The program had finished when the phone rang, it was Gracie. She was crying uncontrollably whilst telling me that her son was dying.
I think everyone knew the situation with Tony’s health but Gracie had been shielded somewhat by Tony and Gina.
It was almost impossible to try and calm her down and I asked her if she would like Sue and I to come over.
Being so late Gracie declined, saying she was going to try and get some sleep.
My belief was she would have loved us to go over but didn’t want to impose on us so late on Sunday evening.
I did promise her that the next morning I would help organise booking her plane as soon as possible.
At ten the next day, I phoned Tony’s secretary, Vivian, about Gracie’s phone call to ask her if she had organised getting her out to America immediately.
She explained Gracie would need someone to accompany her.
I suggested perhaps asking Tony’s daughter Tara if she would take her.
A few hours later the secretary called back to tell me there was no way Tara could take Gracie as she had her 4 month old baby Miel to look after.
I explained I would do it in a heartbeat, but I was working all week in the studio finishing an album for some clients, so there was no way I could cancel the sessions.
I then asked Sue if she would chaperon Gracie she said yes, without any hesitation.
I gave my credit card details and asked the secretary to book a flight for Sue, with a return flight for Wednesday night and call me back to confirm all details.
A few hours later she called say she had booked the tickets and to be at Tony’s home at 9am the next morning where a car was booked to take them both to Gatwick.
Sue and Gracie were booked in first class on the 22nd and the flight all went well, with the exception of Sue getting into an argument whilst waiting for Grace outside the toilets, because Gracie couldn’t lock the door and display the “occupied” sign properly
An American lady insisted the room was available and wanted to go in.
Sue explained there was an elderly lady she was accompanying using the room that’s why she waiting there.
The argument subsided when Gracie eventually came out.
I had asked Sue to phone me from her hotel once Grace was at Tony’s and she was settled at the hotel.
On the morning of Wednesday 23rd, around 4am Sue called and was very upset.
When they both arrived at Tony’s Condo in West Palm Beach, Sue was both surprised and absolutely furious when she was told.
”What a shame you just missed Tara”
Sue asked, “Did she have the baby with her?” She was told no, it would have been to much for Tara and the baby to make the trip.
I told Sue, not to get wound up, just get some sleep and relax, she said I just want to come home.
The next morning without any sleep or eating anything, Sue returned to the airport only to find her flight had been delayed due to a large storm with the added disruption of the US President arriving.
This of course caused her to miss her connecting flight. When arriving in New York once again there was hours of delays and was eventually offered an alternative flight back to Heathrow.
Although the flight going out was first class, which Sue was hoping to enjoy the larger seats, edible food and get some sleep, but her return flight was economy.
Sue arrived at Heathrow 9.30 am on the 25th she was pleased to be home but still very, very upset with Tara for not wanting the hassle of taking her 96 year old grandmother to see her dying son.
When my Amex bill arrived the price of the flight was four and half thousand pounds.
Although we never asked to be paid back, some years later after Gracie passed away I was surprised to be contacted by Tony’s estate and asked if I still had my Amex statement showing the price of the air ticket, which I did I was thrilled to receive a full reimbursement
On Friday March 19th 1999
I was leaving my studio early to get away for long weekend.
As I set the security alarm the telephone rang. I was undecided as to whether to go back and answer, just in case it was someone who wanted to book the studio for that weekend, something I didn’t want to do as I had promised my Sue, my wife, we were going to have a couple of days away.
My conscience got the better of me and I answered the call. To my surprise it was Gina ringing from Florida.
She said, “Tony would like to talk to you.”
I was thrilled to hear from him. The conversation turned dark very quickly, he had called me to say goodbye.
I told him as I had so many times before, “Don’t give up just keep fighting.”
In a very weak voice he said, “I have nothing left to fight with, I am needed in another place.”
We said our goodbyes and I left the studio, wishing I had not gone back to answer the phone.
April 15, was my birthday. I woke up and switched on the TV to see the morning news and I heard the announcement that Anthony Newley had died the night before in Florida. Sue and I were so upset.
I was now grateful for the phone call that had upset me so much a few weeks earlier.
We miss him to this day.
Below a tribute video to Gracie Newley
To see my. YouTube Channel dedicated to many artist please go to Denton115 keeping the memory Alive Link as follows
https://www.youtube.com/user/denton115/videos
This is, Part two of my time with James Garner and what a fabulous guy he was
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