Many years ago , I sat next to Gary on a plane trip from LA to Chicago . We talked for about 2 hours and what a nice , funny , humble guy . The stories he had about his rock and roll career , and also growing up as Jerry’s oldest son . Was a fan of his music before meeting him , now am a fan of him as a person . A true gentleman .
Can’t even imagine being the first born son of Jerry. What a cross to bare. And he bared it magnificently. God bless him. Love all his hits. And thank you Gary for serving our USA. A Patriot, for sure.
He is a hell of a guy ,admits his faults and short comings and fixed him self . I have a Lot, of respect for him .If you ever see or read this Sir ,You are a Class act .
@@1953childstar This comment aged well for what I am going to say. Roughly 6 weeks ago my cousin died. I had no idea he was sick. Then I found out he had cancer from agent orange. He was 74 and served his time from 1967-1970, in Korea. I don't believe, but don't know, if there was any combat at that time. If you google it(That's what I did) you will see that's exactly when agent orange was sprayed in Korea. His older brother was in Viet Nam at about the same time. He's old and in failing health but no agent orange. Gary Lewis admirably served. My late cousin had been drafted, the other one joined and made it a career for 10 years or so. Is one better than the other? Respect to Mr. Lewis and all who served.
@@floatsting20 My older cousins were not in combat either but they patrolled and thank heavens there was no combat. They helped ensure that. But my one cousin still got agent orange and died from it suffering. I hope it's not your point that being in combat is the only way to serve with distinction. Both were infantry. I just really don't get your point and don't care enough to see an explanation.
What an incredibly humble and respectable man Gary is. That had to be one of the most honest and ego-less interviews that any star has given. His music was and still is great. Cudos man!
He and the Playboys performed a concert in Cobleskill, NY. The concert was fabulous and Gary was so very pleasant and down to earth. He would have stayed at the venue for hours. He certainly stayed and visited long after the concert was over. Great person!!!
@@maddyhayes617 Many years ago I had the pleasure to see Gary Lewis and the Playboys by chance in one of the buildings along Steel Pier in Atlantic City just after This Diamond Ring came out. It was quite a surprise to not only see them, but Jerry Lewis came running in and was acting out with a trombone and it finished out with Louie Armstrong. I would love to see Gary one again after all these years. Those days were golden.
Gary Lewis was under rated in the sixties. He had that innocent sixties sound that made you feel good. Still listen to his hits, “This diamond ring, Everybody’s a clown, and Just my style” . Thanks for the music Gary!
Lived on a dirt poor farm in the mid/late 60's but we had this old blue and white box transistor radio we'd listen to in the evenings. I would here Gary and his awesome s songs and said if I ever lived in the city I would buy his records. In Aug 1968 we moved from that turmoil and I was able to collect everything Gary & the Playboys recorded. I peddled an ice-cream cart🤭 to buy his records, and other great 60's music. Thanks Gary, your songs gave me hope!
Great to see this, seems like a great guy, shame he felt there wasn't a market for his music anymore, I'm sure if he had continued his fans would have still been there, he had a lot of great songs that still sound great to this day
Met Gary several times and found him to be a genuine guy. He and his group were bigger than the Beatles at one time and their music today still shines on like this diamond ring of mine! - JG
Gary is an extremely honest, down to earth person. What a quality human being. Of course, he could have pulled some strings and gotten out of his Vietnam draft but he chose to go.
I was there for Gary Lewis and the Playboys and LOVED their music, still do. He seems like such a nice man. I'm sure his name alone got him into places in the beginning but it was great song writers and excellent musicians that made him famous. I'd pay to see him.
Gary and me, spoke a few times by email. I asked him to do a phone in to my radio show, here in The UK. I SO LOVED his dad, as I did Gary, and his band, SO TALENTED AS GARY IS. I saw in the news, they had a "Bust Up" I said I was so sorry for the loss of his dad, and, I have tried to contact Gary many times, but no reply. If you read this Gary, BLESS YOU!!!
Do the Playboys have individual identities? Or is it just Gary Lewis leading a group of interchangeable musicians who come and go at will. Do the "Playboys" even play on the recordings? I ask this because the Playboys never appear with Gary on interviews. As the years have gone by I have discovered that many groups don't even play on their own recordings.
Yes, Richard.....Gary Lewis and the Playboys were VERY popular in the US from 1965 until he left for the Army. Many of us kids wondered what happened to him and why he wasn't putting out any more music and then we found out that he got drafted!! Nothing happened when he came back and we were all disappointed. Elvis was able to pull it off when he came back, but not Gary Lewis, band. ;-(
Excuse me? Goofy and not much else? Hell no. Jerry Lewis was a director, producer, actor, dancer, comedian, inventor, filmmaker, writer, and humanitarian. Gary had his career because of his father. Gary is talented but not as talented as Jerry.
givethechanceakid ok, I’ve gone back and upon further review had to change my earlier call/assessment of Jerry Lewis. He gets credit, as you said for doing a lot more more than I realized. We liked him originally when we first saw his nutty professor and delicate delinquent but after those movies he wasn’t so much fun. I do feel however that whatever good he’d done was undone by writing his original children etc. out of his will. If you truly want to be forgiven for whatever ... you must forgive others and he apparently couldn’t do that so that cast a pretty sad shadow over an otherwise sparkly life. Cheers 🍻
@@brownlettuce1810 He was heavily in debt which was not commonly known. Also net worth does not equal cash in the bank. He did not have the inheritance to give them. Plus some of the kids did some pretty awful things. Kirk Douglas didn't leave any of his children any money in his will. You don't see them upset by it. It didn't mean he didn't love his children.
I'm 67 & always find it kinda cool knowing & enjoying groups & celebrities from the 60's that do interviews decades later & are down to earth & forthcoming about their heydays. Always dug "Count Me In" - still do !
Was always a big fan of Gary Lewis and the Playboys. Their music was very catchy and easy to sing along with. Gary credits his producer Snuff Garrett for being able to pick out the songs that would be great hits for the group.
I was 4 or 5 in Rhode Island in the back of my parents car when this song came on the radio. I am now 65 and a professional drummer / classic rock singwr
I saw them in the "Happy Together Tour" in Spokane WA back in the mid '80s with the Turtles, The Classics IV and the Grass Roots!! It was a great show with lots of good memories!!
I didn't forget. I remember, "Green Grass, this diamond ring, count on me, everybody loves a clown, just my style etc. U even remember all the words, every single one. Music does that for me. I can't remember what I did yesterday but I can and do remember the music and oh God, that's just great.
Gary Lewis and the Playboys are still my Fountain of Youth. Loved listening to his bands 45's and LP's in 1968 on my sisters record player. It just made me excited and a 1960's music lover even still to this day at age 62.
OMG, I saw Gary and the Playboys at Disneyland. It was my very first visit there, and I made my family wait while they performed! LOL It was a real highlight of my trip.
YEP BUT DONT KNOW WHY OVER THE COURSE OF THE LAST 53 YEARS THE BAND AND HIMSELF NEVER WROTE A NEW SONG. ISNT THAT WHAT MUSICIANS DO, WRITE, PLAY NEW MUSIC. 53 YEARS PLAYING SAME FEW SONGS 4/28/2023 SAD BECAUSE THEY CUT THEMSLVES SHORT, CUT US SHORT
I grew listening to his stuff in the 60s when I was a kid in school. Seems like he was putting out a hit each month, then the music stopped. I then found out years later on the internet the music stopped when he got drafted in the Army. When he came back the hits never did.
His mother, Patti helped him vastly !!! The "music" was contrived.. "The Wrecking Crew" provided the instrumentals and Ron Hicklin provided the vocal overdub for the singing of Gary Lewis..
I had the pleasure of meeting and talking with him several years ago. Very pleasant and down to earth. Great guy and very respectful to his fans.👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍
Until this year, I had never heard of Gary Lewis, but he seems like such a nice kid. Imagine having Jerry Lewis as your father, then actually serving in Vietnam to see that the world has passed you by. I wonder where he is in 2020.
I wish he would come back to upstate NY. He was here several years ago. A pleasure to talk with. Very down to earth and personable. He is welcome here anytime---the sooner the better!!!!!!
@@1953childstar I'll tell you how safe it was for my cousin. He was drafted and deployed from about 1967-1970 to Korea. Last year he died in a VA hospital from agent orange cancer and suffered like no one.
Gary performed at Fun Fest in Kingsport TN in summer 1987. I was program director of a radio station there, and we had him up for an interview. He was as ordinary as anybody else. Zero ego, 100% real.
Are you a musician? I know so, so many extraordinarily talented, great musicians, professionally educated, who can barely make a living from their music alone.
I thought Jerry was an insufferable jerk, but I loved how he showed affection to his son by kissing him on the lips; even when Gary was a grown man. To Jerry, he was still his precious boy.
Who says any parent has to leave anything to their kids!? Gary did not need his dads money! A lot of celebrities do Kit leave money to their kids...they gave it to them as they needed it or before they died!
@@TiltBrook - Gary actually took her in and they are close. Only one of the boys that fully accepted her as his sister. A genuine and caring heart ❤️ is hard to find. Gary is ☝️ one.
@@stevecox7075 Those reports might very well be apocryphal. Lotta asset transfers before his death, life insurance beneficiary, limited partnership arrangements with some of Jerry's corporations etc. None would show up in will which was never made public anyway.
I just shared this song with my G+ friend(Elzbieta Pacuszka, who is a talented photographer in Europe, and like me believes every day is an invitation for happiness). I, unfortunately, had an experience something like Gary's. If you read further you'll find I was a huge fan and still am. Before today, I did not know Gary was the son of Jerry-what a shock! To think someone as talented as Gary could emerge from all that kitsch. I married my Vietnam. And almost thirty years later, I'm still trying to rectify the damage this person purposely perpetrated. She has achieved-ironically-exactly what she threatened to do to me very early in our relationship. I just didn't believe anyone could be that callous. But on the bright side, I have a daughter and two sons whom I love dearly, however, they bought into her stories. I'm just going to continue, like Gary, with that inner joy. Green Grass: I felt that song just sparkled with such a positive vibe. I just now shared the song-she probably won't listen to until tonight-that's when she seems to post, because I'm sure as prolific as she is, she's working all day-like I should be. I guess the fact that I'm still sharing it with friends fifty years after the first time I heard it, tells you how much I like "Green Grass." Others have thought it weird that I like it far more than all the moody stuff, which I guess ruined the market for Gary Lewis by the time he returned from Vietnam. In case you read this, Gary(It's not the first time I shared the song via media.) I shared it with the guy who actually bought most of our 45rpm singles when he was in Vietnam. I put over 50 songs on a C-120 cassette tape and sent it to my brother Denny who was there at the same time you were. He said it was his favorite music tape during his whole tour of duty. And Green Grass was the first song on the tape. (You can't make this stuff up.) I think you'll find more and more, people loved you a lot. Forgive me for saying this-but your Dad had to have a screw loose to treat you that way. (I know he did a lot of good in his life though, too) (This was how I shared it on G+ because I thought it would be far more meaningful if Elzbieta and a couple of her friends that liked the other songs we shared could actually understand the words since their first language is Polish. Though they don't really seem to have a problem with English, I just thought it would be nice… (I'll add a link at the end, in case you'd like to see how much someone can like shared a song.) I'm interested to see how the Polish market picks up on this. Who knows Gary could be the next Polish Prince if he's willing to cut a multi-lingual version. Sorry, this ran so long. So long. Green Grass(I'll run it through Google Translate from English to Polish-And, hopefully, it won't lose too much in the translation.) Performed by Gary Lewis and the Playboys Written by Roger F. Cook and Roger John Reginald Greenaway Peak chart position # 8 in 1966 (This was one of my favorites when I was a young guy. I loved fishing, drawing, oil painting, sailing, and I thought I had died and gone to heaven when I found my own boat in the cove of Lincoln Lake after a storm[there was just enough sand washed away to reveal its top rail] When this song was released, it was so upbeat, it just gave me joy). plus.google.com/u/0/117997677048857842439/posts/ZNGAxztFGX8?cfem=1
Never will be phased out !! I loved their music as I love most all kinds of music… I still love listening to Gary Lewis and the Playboys!! CLASSIC ALWAYS 💙💙
Great guy. Too bad ole loving dad didn't think enough of all his kids to include them in his will. I've just now learned alot about the real Jerry Lewis. He had serious soul sucking problems. If only he would have sought real help. Strange how wonderful he was with his telethons and such... But like so many we hear about now, his public persona was just that. Not the guy inside. Very upsetting when you grew up watching him. Thanks for the vid. First time I've seen Gary. The band was good what little we saw. 💔✌️
He gave them all trusts first of all with the exception of Anthony, and trusts aren't mentioned in wills sometimes. Why should he be required to put his sons in his will anyway? I'm still perplexed on why people get upset about this? He didn't have the money to leave them anymore anyway, and was heavily in debt. He gave his wife and daughter what was left, and his daughter used all her savings when she lost her job in the pandemic. Stop putting people up on a pedestal, and look at them as real humans with real problems like everyone else, and maybe you won't be so disappointed with celebrities. Jerry tried to do therapy once, and they told him that he might not have the need to be funny anymore, once they helped him with his problems. He chose to help other people instead of himself, and continue to make them laugh and feel better through his comedy.
@@givethechanceakid Really? You sound pretty judgemental yourself. I had just spent hours watching vids and docs about him. That part about the will was a very small part of the Jerry outside the public. One vid was from one of his son's. I'd think he probably knew his dad better than you. I only regret putting it here on a vid about Gary. That was a mistake on my part. Gary seems like a well adjusted and decent person🤨
@@givethechanceakid True, there is no reason a parent must "give us money" when they pass away. Gary, for example, was a drug addict who was helped by his father ( The thefts of drugs and money were covered up )..
I'm a couple years older than Gary and was watching the Howdy Doody program in the very early 1950s when Buffalo Bob made a comment that the son of the world-famous Jerry Lewis was in the Peanut Gallery (audience) and announced Gary who was five years old or so was there. I don't know why, but I still remember that moment to this day some 70-plus years later.
Gary Lewis for me is one share of laughter hurray son of Jerry Lewis loves you also more because you look so good today always have that wonderful day listening to your music thank you 🙏🍏❤️😈
Gary you were terrific. My very favorite group of the 60's. You look great, and sexy. Wishing you all the very best in life. ps, I felt bad about the relationship with you and your Dad. Maybe he was jealous of you. Also bravo you went into the service and served your country, thank you Gary, you are so sweet and seem like a great guy. All the best, from a fan for life, Annette Athanasatos
Gary Lewis will never die or in the and it has been the Playboys still love their songs they're one of the great bands of the 60s I know I love music I know the Beatles and stones and everything else Dave Clark Led Zeppelin I can go on and on but there's only one Gary Lewis & the Playboys love you guys
Yes, It must be an an "American Icon" who can pretend to sing !!! The instrumentals were provided by "The Wrecking Crew" and the singing was overdubbed by Ron Hicklin...
Keep in mind the musical genes he inherited from both parents. Both paternal grandparents were musical and on his mother's side, she and her family were quite musical. So...really he couldn't miss getting that wonderful gene.
I adored his music. He truly made a name for himself in his own right. Wished the war hadn't destroyed that. Never liked the screeching of Janis Joplin, but to each his own.
He played at a local 'joint' in Covina, CA, near where my condo was. Stopped in and watched. Not really a "club", just a bar. But it was neat he did stop in for a set.
In watching Gary doing interviews and learning how hard he has worked in his life, he seems like a really nice guy and not spoiled or into drugs like so many celebrities' children. I never cared for Jerry Lewis' style of comedy and it appears as though he was not good to his family. I always liked Gary's songs and am glad he was a success in his own merit.
I think the folks at Disney really knew who he was. Come on his name is *Gary LEWIS* , he talks and looks just like his dad did back in the early days. But I'm sure he got the job not by being " *Jerry Lewis's* " son, NO, he got the job because of his talent! Because of the entire groups talent. And they had some great songwriters 😱😱😁😁
Jerry did help out his son. He help spread the name Gary Lewis and the playboys, and even in some of Jerry’s films you can see cameos by the group. Family Jewels has two are three references to Gary Lewis itself
