Editor's note: We are saddened to learn that our dear Lew passed away on January 9, 2008. Lew was a Cabaret West member for many years and it was an honor and joy to have known him. We will miss him daily. Please enjoy this interview I did with him in 2001. --Donna Abraham, Cabaret West Calendar Editor.

An Interview with Songwriter Lew Spence

CW: Your bio starts in 1948 when you had just finished a run at the Maisonette Room in New York's St. Regis Hotel and decided to move to L.A. Would you bring us up to that point in your career?
LS: I come from Cedarhurst, Long Island. I've had almost no musical education. My mother played piano by ear and there was always a lot of sheet music laying around. The first songs I ever heard were by the great writers of the 20's and 30's. I had a local 9-piece band when I was in my mid-teens. I moved to Arizona because I had asthma and there was a shortage of pianists. I played in mining towns on weekends with a small band. Eventually, a singer needed an accompanist in the Santa Rita Hotel. She quit after a couple of weeks and the manager said to me, "We can't have just piano music in this room. I hear you singing songs to your friends, so why don't you sing, too?" Singers like Perry Como and Bing Crosby were being supplemented by stylists like Nat Cole and Johnny Mercer, so I just did that kind of song and the audiences seemed to like it. A woman who had been a big star during the Depression had ruined her career by drinking and she occasionally worked in the room with me. That was in the early to mid 40's. I ran into her in 1948 in New York and we decided to build an act, something I knew nothing about. But we did it and ended up at the Maisonette Room. I didn't like the act enough to continue and decided that, since I no longer had asthma, I would live in California, where I would try to find other work. I had to make a living while I decided on my future, so I played and sang at The Little Club in Beverly Hills.

What was the first song you ever wrote?
The first song I ever wrote to try to get into the songwriting game was called ABOUT THAT GIRL, when I was almost 30. I had been writing songs for girls since I was in my early teens, maybe earlier, but I thought of it as only a hobby. That song was published less than 24 hours after I wrote it and recorded within a few weeks. When Bob Russell ("Do Nothin' Till You Hear From Me," "Don't Get Around Much Anymore") heard it, he asked me to write with him. And that's how I began my composing career.

How did you come to work with the Bergmans?
Marilyn Keith wanted to be a lyricist. The first lyric she showed me, THAT'S HIM OVER THERE, was beautiful. I wrote the music overnight and was able to get it recorded by Peggy Lee. Some time later, Alan Bergman, who was a composer at the time, told me he thought he could be a better lyric writer. We began working together then I introduced Alan to Marilyn and the three of us immediately started an eight-year collaboration.

Was it soon after that you began to write songs for Frank Sinatra?
Frank Sinatra had liked the first song I played for him (HALF AS LOVELY, TWICE AS TRUE, lyric by Sammy Gallop) and subsequently I was asked for songs every time Frank prepared to record. The team of Marilyn Bergman (nee Keith), Alan Bergman and Lew Spence wrote NICE 'N' EASY, SLEEP WARM, OL' MACDONALD, and more.

What was Frank Sinatra's first impression of "Nice 'n' Easy?" What was he like to work with?
Sinatra's reaction to NICE 'N' EASY is a story I'll have to save for my show. Sinatra was hot and cold. He could be very mean, sometimes very complimentary, but you wouldn't want to get in his way.

What are your inspirations for songs and what do you think makes a good song?
My inspirations are personal situations mostly, mine or someone else's. Funny situations, too. I think a good song needs a lyric that is crafted perfectly. No false rhymes, no incorrect accents. Ballads should have some musical sweep to them.

What do you think are the necessary components for a successful collaboration?
I simply choose a collaborator who shows me great work, either music or lyrics, as I write both. Successful collaboration not only requires talent, but personalities have to mesh. It should be fun for both participants.

What comes first...the music or the lyrics?
I have written to a complete melody, to an opening melodic line, to a title, to a finished lyric. I wrote the opening lines of THAT FACE, both music and lyrics, at the same time. There's no rule.

Today, some think the classic American popular song with the verse followed by the chorus in the AABA pattern is too short and lacks complexity. What do you think?
I write verses to all my songs. I think that a verse and a chorus-and-a-half with a different lyric for the second half-chorus is plenty.

One of your collaborators is Buddy Ebsen. Is that the Buddy Ebsen of The Beverly Hillbillies, Barnaby Jones and MGM musicals?
Yes, it's the same Buddy Ebsen who has had numerous careers. He was primarily a dancer (like Ray Bolger). We wrote mostly funny songs like, WITHHOLDIN' MAMA, YOU'RE TAXIN' PAPA. We also wrote the title song for the film, BEHAVE YOURSELF, starring Shelley Winters and Farley Granger.

When did you start writing lyrics?
With Lehman Engel's encouragement, I started writing lyrics when I was 60. My greatest thrill came when Stephen Sondheim heard my work and recommended to Burton Lane that he should write a show with me as lyricist. We started working on a show but it was never completed, and Burton passed away.

Of all the songs you've written, which do you like the most? Do you have a favorite performance of one of your songs?
A song called WHAT'S YOUR NAME? It's been performed by only three people--Bobby Short, Michael Feinstein and, right now, Eric Comstock is doing it at the Algonquin in New York. Although Sinatra's version of NICE 'N' EASY is great, I am crazy about a version by the late Charlie Rich. It won a Country Western Award, but it is more Gospel than Country.

What advice would you give to singers when singing your songs?
I prefer singers who sing songs as written using their own personality and phrasing to make it their own. Sarah Vaughan started that way, but then started bending notes, slurring, etc., and she lost me. Unfortunately, we lost the best singer to come along in years, Nancy LaMott, and she didn't do any tricks.

What are some of your favorite songs written by other songwriters? What kinds of music do you listen to in your leisure?
I seem to have a favorite song for a period of time and then I have a different one. Last year, my favorite was "All in Fun" by Jerome Kern and Oscar Hammerstein II, then it was Cole Porter's "After You, Who?" A song by Bob Russell and Ray Gilbert that I doubt anyone knows unless they've heard me do it--"Pin Striped Suit." Almost anything by Sondheim, who is my idol. He's a perfectionist and an original writer, both musically and lyrically. I listen to classical music in my car and at home I listen only to things friends send me. They know my taste and I depend on them.

What do you think of today's songwriting?
I hardly hear anything. I stopped listening to popular music after Bossa Nova in the 60's. What I hear by accident bores me, upsets me, angers me because of the lack of craftsmanship in the lyrics and the repetition of a few notes and chords in the melodies (if you can call them that!).

How has the music business changed since you started?
A songwriter used to go to a publisher, who, if he liked the song, would pay an advance and then pitch the song to record companies or singers if he knew them. Today, I have no hands-on knowledge, but it seems that the performers mostly write, publish and record in their own firms.

What is the Songwriters Guild of America?
The Songwriters Guild of America is an organization that started in order to protect songwriters from the abuses of publishers. They developed a contract that is the only contract I've ever used.

What are you working on now?
Mostly I'm working on putting the show together with Wesla Whitfield, Evelyn Halus, Mike Greensill, Tom Griep and Benoit Grey. There will be a special surprise appearance by Robert Wagner, who was discovered singing my first song in a duet with me at a restaurant in Beverly Hills. I have written a few new songs that will be in the show.

Where can a singer get a list of all your songs? Is there a songbook published?
I can supply a list of my songs. A songbook is presently being prepared in London and should be out later this year.

What do you have planned for us on March 12?
I hope the show will be a collection of good songs and funny and awful stories of my experiences as a songwriter.

We're looking forward to it. Thank you for interviewing with us and thank you for all the great music!

© 2007 Cabaret West