The Marvelous Marilyn Maye

Without Marilyn Maye, it’s safe to say that there would be no Tom & Mickey, and she’ll be the first person to tell you so. Marilyn is a master of her craft, but don’t take our word for it. She was Johnny Carson’s favorite singer and appeared on The Tonight Show 76 times – more than any singer in the show’s history. Ella Fitzgerald, a friend and fan of Marilyn’s, dubbed her “The greatest white female singer in the world.” Join us as the Carson-dubbed “Supersinger” talks of life, love, music, her sold-out evening at Carnegie Hall, Warren Buffet, Bob Mackie, and French Martinis. If you don’t know Marilyn Maye, listen up – it’s time to get hip!

Pay attention to marilynmaye.com and sign up to her email list. (maybe Tell her Tom & Mickey sent you.) 

We hope you loved this episode as much as we loved making it. Why not follow us @tomandmickey to see what we get up to next.  

Or let us find your perfect home on tomandmickey.com 

The Tom & Mickey show is produced -in full sequins- by director & editor extraordinaire:  Stephen Penta

Episode Transcript

(00:00):
From the greatest city on the planet Earth, it's the Tom and Mickey show.

(00:01):
Everything is showbiz.
It lights camera action. Presenting...
The marvelous Marilyn May.
When we decided that we were really going to dig in and do this podcast the right way, we knew that Marilyn May had to be the first guest. She is truly a force of nature and seeing one of her performances, as we say in the episode, is life-affirming. She is the reason that we have met.
She's the reason we're married, the whole journey of Tom and Mickey, 17 years together now. And it's by no accident that her very first album was entitled, Meet the Marvelous Marilyn May, because she truly is marvelous. She was Johnny Carson's favorite singer and performed on The Tonight Show 76 times more than any other singer in history. So without further ado, here's Johnny.
I'm sorry that I say that he's a super singer first of all. We can sing just about anything she said to her mind too. She is one of the best singers in the business. Would you welcome Marilyn May. Marilyn.
(Singing)
(Singing)
(Singing) (Singing) (Singing) (Applause) (Applause) (Applause) Well, I don't think it's fair for me to have a drink and you guys not. Do you like something, Kyle? Yes, you'd need something.
Fuck, fuck, fuck. (Laughter) Don't pop your pee or your abs. We're going to have... We're going to have all the right stuff. You've got to get rid of those. It really hurts. It really hurts. I know it. It's terrible. Oh dear. That really hurt. Do you want to leave it off? No.
No. I'd rather die. Well, I'd suffer.
Well, let's not have that.
We all sound good. We look good. We look good. We feel good. We have a star of epic proportions. Fly away. Fix his hair. How's my hair?
His hair is fabulous. I need some attention. It's fabulous. You're turning gray. You're turning gray and I love it. Don't cut it. All right. I did. We are rolling Marilyn. I know. I know. No, don't roll her in.
Thank you. I walked into my own two feet. You've had quite a busy day. You were teaching. I did. I now have wonderful people who some people play golf, some people play bridge, some people want to sing. You know, so they come to me and we decide what their main range is and we do it in the right key, even though they say I've always sung higher. Well, you can't anymore. Take it down. So we put in the right range and they do it and they sing in the right key and they are amazed at how good they sound. And that's good for me. Yeah. I remember a time.
Oh gosh, it was, I think it was Lee Grant's New Year's Eve party so many years ago. Do you know Lee Grant? No. Oh, but I know who you mean. Yeah. She's magnificent human and David Lewis was on piano. Okay. You know, David. Yes.
And I went, I was starting to sing something and he said, that's not your key. I said, it is tonight because I don't have time to work this out. But he was right. It was not my key. I was singing it and what I don't know, it was like Dean Martin tune, but I was singing some key that was not mine. And that came to me from being in school. Did you feel that it was lower? That's why you hadn't said at all. No, because I was conditioned because when I was in junior high school and high school, they had a lack of bases and baritones. So I got, I was a base at some point. So that should never have been a base. Okay. A lyric baritone maybe, but a tenor at best. Why do you say you should never have been a base if the music teacher thought you were okay in the base section? He just needed me there.
For your looks or for your stature? Just because I could hit him. Well, and then it sounded good.
Good enough. Well, because he would have put you somewhere else had he thought you were better somewhere. I think they had more of the other ones than they did of, it's not easy in a classroom selection to get the perfect mix of voices. Right.
Oh my, it must be. Well, I'm, yeah, I don't have, I'd love to have a class of boys.
No, I have a lawyer. I have a man that's a lawyer. He's 71 years old and he, you know, he wants to sing. He just loves, loves doing.

(00:22):
He started out not singing that well, thank goodness, because that's why I'm here.
To teach them to sing that well.
So I said, well, you know, I want you to speak some of this. I'm going to turn you into Rex Harrison.
Because that's a great technique too, you know. You can entertain beautifully to just deliver the lyric and mean the lyric. It's all about the words, you know that. I've grown accustomed to her face.
She almost makes the day begin.
I've grown accustomed to the tune that she whistles night and noon. Her smiles, her frowns, her ups, her downs. When Learn Low wrote My Fair Lady, and I will verify this information, they wanted Noel Coward to play Rex Harrison.
And he said, I don't do shows that aren't my own. Right. But Noel Coward had a wonderful quote. He said, I can't sing, but I know how to. And that makes all the difference.
Oh, isn't that interesting? You like that quote? I wonder what he meant.
I'd like to talk to him.
We'll have a seance. Right, yes, let's do that. Yes. Well, we are fresh off of our latest Marilyn May experience. Oh, my. Just two nights ago, you blew the doors off of Players, as we knew you were. The Players Club, all the tradition that was there. Was spectacular. Thank you. Was that your first time performing in that room? Probably not. Thank you.
No, I did perform for a private party there, but this was. First full on concert. For all the members, you know. It was spectacular. Thank you. It really was. Thank you. Seeing you is so life-affirming. Oh, honey, thank you. You know, the problems of the world go away when that door closes and the music starts. You walk through that room. That's what we're there for, you know, to make them feel happy. Yeah, it was something else. At least for an hour and a half or so, you know, an hour and 10 minutes or 15 minutes to change their world for a while or introduce a new world to them. And the greatest compliment that I can get, and at times we receive it every now and then, when they say, you know, I didn't feel good today. I haven't felt good for several days. And I almost didn't come because I thought, oh, I just can't, you know, get, get, get, like, however they got to the club. And they said, I'm so glad I feel so much better. And I said, well, that's my job.
That's what we're supposed to do is make them happy. There's a moment, we talked about this earlier today.
It's always a rough start. It's a cold crowd. There's no warm up act. Well, no. So you are, you come out, you're the thing. Yeah. And sometimes you have a warm up act and it doesn't warm you up. No, no, it does the opposite. It can do the opposite. That's right.
But you went out there and these people all had a day. They came from work. They came from whatever their lives were. It was a cold night, you know, everybody's coming in, they're sitting down.
I, what I remember is like a maestro.
As you were inviting people into this world that you're creating, you conducted them, you brought them in. Well, we open with a thing called the song is you. The song is you. It isn't, it isn't the song. Did you love her? It's you, the audience. You, you, and you, you literally brought them in with your hand and they responded immediately. Yeah, they gave permission to wake up from whatever clouds were in their hand. Whatever filet of beef was in their tummy. Thank you, honey. Thank you. It was every time we see you and we've seen you so many times. I know you've come. You came to the Carnegie concert. Oh, yes. We're going to talk about that and we're going to show you a video clip. Oh, good. That we don't think you've seen. I have. So that's a little surprise as we get a little further along. But the thing we have to say from the onset is that you are single handedly the reason that we are a couple. Oh, I know. I introduced you. I mean, you were Ella's favorite singer. I thought you were meant for him and you were meant for him.
But of all of all of the things you've achieved in your life and career, Carson, 76 times, but you introduced Tom and Mickey. I wonder how many people are together because of you. I don't know. I don't know. But we are putting out a search now if anybody is a couple because of Marilyn May or any of her phone studio. Well, we want to hear from you, Tom and Mickey on Instagram and Sonya station. New York, New York. We're getting a group together. It's the Marilyn May. There's no fee. There's no fee for that. You can comfortably call them small fee, you know, for 99. No, no. No, but it really is. You are. Well, it must have been. It must have worked. Oh, it worked. How many years? That was, we could tell you exactly. It was January 28th, 2008. A cold night. Cold night. Monday night. But it was warm when you saw each other. It was. But we were talking about before we started rolling, we were talking about age and people's obsession with age and what that means. Especially in New York or sports. If you're if you're an athlete, if you're a dancer, you're a singer. People put an expiration date on talent. And they put it in your your ad, even. I'm there. I just don't understand what what difference does it make? Well, I'll tell you this from an advertising perspective, our beloved mutual friend, all three of us marks on that cold winter night.
He called me up, phoned me up and said, you're not about to cancel, are you? Because the weather was wicked. No, cancel for. Cancel to come to the it was the nightlife awards and you were performing.
And he invited you to do. He invited me to come and he invited Tom to come with another friend.
And I said, Mark, it's just one of those Monday nights. He said, but had he not dated you?
Well, when you say dated, I mean,

(00:43):
I just recently pulled out the letter that I wrote to him because I wrote to him because I needed to get to Mark Shaiman to write charts for my first record. Oh, I love Mark Shaiman. When I hired John Otto as a result of Mark, we didn't date. No. Oh, I really thought you had. Well, then I did a good deed. I thought I maybe took took you. I took you away from him to meet him. But I just thought you were perfect. Or vice versa, because Mark apparently thought we were on a date. I was unaware of the fact, but that shrewd man that he is. Well, hold that thought. He's a lawyer, you know, I know. I don't want to say anything. I don't want to say that. Maybe not thought you were on a date. Maybe he had just hoped that you were on a date. Oh, that's nice. We've seen you now. We did the calculation. It's 163 concerts since we've seen that. Really? Oh my. Kipper take. You just made that up. You just, you always make up stories.
That's not true. Yes, you do. Really? But this one's true. I introduced you both and you and now you're still together after how many years?
17. Seven, seven years. 17. And we'll be married nine years and more. Oh, gosh, how wonderful. We waited for it to become more. How wonderful. Yes, of course. It was more fun from that night. When we left, so we met, we met under the marquee. Mark introduced us. This is my friend Tom. This is my friend Mickey. What is under the marquee? The marquee of the town hall. I know, but who cares? Well, it mattered because I met this guy three minutes before we walked inside. And he liked me. I was dazzled by his eyes. He couldn't get over my hair.
And the marquee was going. The thing Marilyn, Marilyn, Marilyn. I'm going to fast forward this. We got past the awards. We went to the after party and you said, let's go to Birdland to go to Cass. So for anybody that show, it was after that show. And you wanted to go specifically because you knew that Tony Bennett would be in the audience. Oh, gosh. Oh, my gosh. So we walked over there and our little group splintered off. It's like, okay. Mark went home. He had to get up early. As Gary went home. Went home. So it was the three of us who walked over to Birdland.
And as we were walking in, Jim Caruso, the MC, brought you up to sing.
And as you're. And the reason he brought me up immediately was because Tony was there. And he introduced you. And he thought that it would be fun for Tony to hear me. And Tony walked out the door. That's right. And he said, well, you know, I'm not going to do that. I'm going to do that. I'm going to do that. I'm going to do that. You're going to do that. But I don't think you really heard my introduction. I have to, I have to say. I don't know if you remember what you did at that moment. No, I don't. We don't talk. We don't. We don't curse in my house.
It doesn't matter. A lot of very famous people have been in my audience and I'm grateful for that. And including you too. So. So that's all I care about.
And I want to say thank you. You know, I, I did a little bit of that. And I, I was. I was a little bit of a fan. And I never checked. It was timing. It was the timing thing. So where was your wedding? Michael Feinstein's townhouse. Oh my. How fun. Yeah. So we had Marilyn out at the jazz loft in Stony Brook, a lovely little music venue out where. We have our house. Our weekend house. That sounds so.
Real estate. Yeah. Go on.
I'm sorry. No, it's fine.
There are some people, you know, that have 11 houses. We've only got this little shtetl here. And then the house on Long Island. I digress. You don't. The weekend. You can, if you want to. The compound. And it's perfect. Cause it is fabulous. I was fabulous. And then there was the screening room. The screening room. And then there was the screening room. And then there was the screening room. But so, so we had the after party of your gig is what I was getting. The last night of the gig, everybody came back to the house. Yeah. Stayed up till two, three o'clock in the morning. Guess who stayed up late.
Last one to leave the party.
But we watched. I've been having fun. Of course. Fun is the best thing. That's right. That's right. Yeah,
Fun.
We sat and we watched, if you remember, I'm sure you remember the DVDs, the DVD of all the Carson clips. And you've got all of those. I don't even have those. We've got them. Yeah, you do. We've got them. And it was just, it was so fascinating and so beautiful to sit there with you and watch that and hold your hand. Well, the memories are flood, you know, when that's going on. And the odd thing is I would do the show and they started like, I think five or 6.30 in the early evening, you know. And so you're through and then you go out to dinner with friends and then you go back to the hotel. And then I would pile up in bed and get ready to watch the show. And I would sit there all piled up with my pillows and by myself so that I could really enjoy what happened. And invariably nine times, no, 10 times out of 10, I would fall asleep. (laughing) Just before I came on. So maybe it was defense, I don't know. Maybe it was defense. Cause I would absolutely, it's the truth. I would just sit there and all of a sudden I would fall asleep.
And I mean, and that was the moment that I was going to come on. It's just weird because it happened over and over. Isn't that funny? That can happen to anybody who's been on this night show 76 times. Oh, he was so good to me. He was so nice. I had the choice of either visiting with him and singing one song or singing two songs. And only five times did I sit on the panel. And cause I thought, that's what I'm about. I'm about singing and delivering lyrics to the audience. And he was special. He was so funny. So funny, you know, he just, he knew what questions to ask a comedian.
You know, he would just, he was so kind to all the people on the panel. He would never override them or over talk them or, you know, try to be funny himself. Cause he was just literally always funny, but in a very loving, decent way, you know, he would honor the talent that he was interviewing.
- Of, I mean, 76 times it's mind boggling. And that's more times than any musical act. - Any other singer. No, I think any singer. Yeah, I think there are comedians that have done it more than that. But, but, - Do you remember the very first time? Do you have any? - No, here in New York, here in New York, I was with Shecky. I was with Shecky Green Westfaring way out in New York. Is it Long Island Westfaring music fair? Yeah, with Shecky. It was during that engagement the next night or the first night, I don't know which, but I did the Carson show. So that was thrilling. - For the first time in New York. That gives me goose pimples.
(laughing) - Yeah, it was fun. And then the band was always fabulous. You know, Skitch was this, Skitch Henderson was the band leader in the beginning. And then, and then Doc came on. And Doc and I did a lot of concerts together. We did symphony concerts. He was the conductor at Phoenix. And he invited me three times to Phoenix to do the concert that he was giving to Phoenix audience with that good orchestra. (jazz music)
And I remember I was doing a solo to the audience and he was standing way back there. And he said, "Great jacket to me, you know." And I said, "You want it, don't you?" (laughing) - He was making an overture. - Well, because you know he wore those outrageous jackets, and he just, from the wings, he said, and I could hear him, "Great jacket." And I said, "You want it, don't you? I know you do."
(laughing) We laughed about that afterward. He was precious. He was a precious man. - I know there was talk,

(01:04):
maybe you can't talk about it and we'll cut it, but what's the deal with being on "Fallon's Tonight Show," continuing the tradition? - Oh, I will tell you exactly.
- Okay.
- Somebody called them several years ago and said, "You really should have "Barelin' on the Show." I got a call and I said, "When, when, what date?" And I said, "Well, I'll tell my pianist." "Oh no, you have to work with our musicians."
And I said, "Really?" I said, "I usually bring my pianist." - Makes everyone's life easier. - Yeah, and so that was one thing. And then I said, "So how many songs will I do?" It was on the Carson Show, we did two songs. Although fine, one would have been wonderful just to do the tradition of the "Tonight Show," you know. So they said, "No, you'll do one." And I don't know how it led into this, but she said, I said, "Well, I really want to bring my own accompanist." That would be, everybody would be happy with that. - Sure, sure. - The other musicians and everybody would like that. And so we talked about it. She said, "Well, you see, what you'll be doing "is whatever happened to."
It's a segment that we do called "Whatever Happened to," so and so, you know. She said, "So you won't really be finishing "what you're doing." And I said, "Oh, you know what?" - That sounds right. - I'm not interested in doing that at all. - I'd like to make a public service announcement to Jimmy Fallon right now. Jimmy, you're a smart guy. You're a member of the Players. We're members of the Players. Marilyn just played the Players, blew the roof off the place. We have a living legend who was on Carson 76 times. She'll show up, she'll sing a song, a whole song, and she'll woo the people watching. - Carnegie Hall was a year ago.
- Carnegie Hall, perfect segue. Perfect segue. - Carnegie Hall. - March 24th, 2023.
That was, there's a lot of accolades coming out of us tonight, okay? - That was fun. - But that was thrilling. - That was beyond thrilling. - It was thrilling for me too. We didn't know whether we did it with an 83-piece orchestra. I think it was 83.
80 musicians and my three guys, and Ted Firth and Tom Hubbard and Mark McLean. It was so thrilling because we were sold out. - Completely sold out. At least a dozen standing ovations from our, we were in the Maestro's box. We were in Steven Reinicki's private box with David Hyde-Pierce and his husband Brian, who are huge fans. - Your name dropper, you? - No, they love you. They loved you so much. They were hooting and hollering. - Oh, it was so much fun. And my precious Bob Mackey was there. - Bob Mackey was there, yes. - With Joe McFate, my dear, dear buddies. And Warren Buffett was there, my friend.
- Warren Buffett, who flew in just for the event. - Marilyn's biggest fan. - Well, he's precious. He comes to see me. I do a club up in Northern Iowa every summer. Well, it's not a club anymore, it's a theater. There was a club for 61 years, 61 consecutive years in Lake Okebauja, Iowa. Beautiful, beautiful Lake Resort. And then that club is no more.
And so then we went to a theater there that's there. And he came the last two years. He's been there for my performance. He flies in with his own. He called before Carnegie. He said, "Now you have to come out." Because I always say out of the dressing room, I'd come out and say hello to him after the concert. He said, "You have to hurry because I have to fly back to Omaha." He and his wife and his assistant. And I said, "Warren, you can't afford to stay in New York for one night." (all laughing) I have an idea. Call him tomorrow and let him know we'll find him a nice apartment.
(all laughing) That's right. Oh gosh. He doesn't like to stay in New York though. I don't know, he must have had business in Omaha or something because it was very special that he flew in for the concert. I was thrilled. Plain reading. But all the people that I saw, people that I hadn't seen for years, came because it was Carnegie. It was a love fest. In the big room. The big room. The big room and a love fest. From those who were there to see Judy Garland at Carnegie Hall. Yes. They said this is the only, and people who are habitués of Carnegie and New York City Nine Life, they had not seen anything like your performance since Judy Garland. Well there was several reviewers that referred to that circumstance. That it was somewhat, I like that. That's a pretty decent company. Well with the audience, you know, because I do, thank God I do have, I love my audience. That's my love affair.
The audience is my love affair. And boy, it is a mutual love affair. You are some kind of lover. Thank you. Well I'm glad you two have a love affair still after how many years now? 17 years. 17 years. That's perfect. Counting. I'm glad, so have I introduced you lately?
(both laughing) Button.
(both laughing)
He's showbiz. See, we have something else that you don't know about, and it's very official. You can tell when it's embossed.
(both laughing) This comes from City Hall and the Office of the Main. And I'd like to read just a little of this to you. Oh my God. Does that look familiar? Oh my God. Right?
(both laughing) It's so far. It's proclamation. (audience laughing) It really is fun. Now we'll read the whole thing, but I'll read just a bit. (audience laughing)
Whereas I take immense pride in meeting a city renowned as a global capital of culture and innovation that has inspired creative people of all backgrounds, shining bright among them is Marilyn May. (audience applauding) It's an interesting thing to be a themed cabaret and jazz vocalist and an energetic non-engineer here who has enriched our artistic landscape for more than 60 years. Tonight, the New York Pops, the largest independent Pops Orchestra in the United States is presenting the marvelous Marilyn May, her solo debut at Carnegie Hall and part of the esteemed venues Women in Music series. (audience applauding) As she takes the stage tonight wearing her signature sparkly jewelry and sequined attire. (audience laughing)
Bobby made that for me just for that concert. - You know.
Yeah, and I had to fly out. I flew out twice for fittings from here to Palm Springs to have fittings for it. I flew out for the first fitting and they thought that would be enough. And then I got a call from Joe and he said, "You're gonna have to fly back out." - And Bob Mackey calls you to fly out for a fitting. - That's right. - You do. Did Warren said the plane?
- I join with everyone at Carnegie Hall in applauding this outstanding artist for her invaluable contributions to the history of music. Together we wish her a very happy upcoming 95th birthday, on April 10th and continue success. Now therefore I, Eric Adams, mayor of the city of New York, do hereby proclaim Friday, March 24th, 2023 in the city of New York as Marilyn May Day. (audience applauding)

(01:25):
(audience cheering) - That night, I mean, we just, I just wanna stand in that community. - Oh my God. - I wanna be Paul because Marilyn, the first time that I ever went to Carnegie Hall, I was a 14 year old kid. - Oh. - And I demanded that my mom and dad take me and my brother to see Frank Sinatra. - Of course. - June of 84. - Of course. - And it was, it blew my doors off. I idolized Sinatra early on.
When you're looking at other singers, who do you, - Oh God. - Is that a question you can even answer? - No, I can't. For so many reasons, you know, there's so many styles and so many different techniques and ranges and bodily, you know, what they do with their presentation bodily, that, you know, and I'm hard audited. I'm not easy. - You're a tough critic. - Yeah, maybe so, you know. Yeah, I'm not very nice about it. (all laughing)
And I mean to be because I know how hard it is, but that's the point. It is difficult. And that is the point that it's hard for all of us, but it's also fun for all of us. So that makes life happy. So there's so much negative in our life and especially these days. So thank God we have this great American songbook that we can latch on to and pass on to the audience. And isn't it wonderful when they enjoy it? - Thank God, indeed. Mr. Sinatra had a famous line. I talk about Frank a lot. I'm obsessed. - With him.
- He's famous for saying in the sixties, I think, to Cronkite, right? And it was a Cronkite entity. - I think it was, yeah. - I'm for whatever gets you through the night, be it prayer, tranquilizers, or a bottle of Jack Daniel. (all laughing) - He didn't mention music at all, did he? (all laughing) - What gets you through the night? - Oh, wow. - What gets you through the night?
- Television.
(all laughing)
It's right there and when I'm in bed, I'm really glad about that. - Ever since the Carson days,
fall asleep on your pillow. - That's right. And it keeps playing on and on and on. Oh, it's terrible if it goes off. That's my friend. That's my friend in the room.
(all laughing) Now I'm tormented with, what am I gonna do next April?
This was coming up soon. I don't know what I'm gonna sing. And everybody said, "Just sing what you always do." And I said, "No, they wanna hear something new." I don't know. - I mean, mix it up a little bit. But the way the architecture of your show, it starts here and it just, it builds the layers of it.
- There is a technique to that. - Of course.
- There is a story about that. - We know. I wonder if the average person would really understand that. - I don't think they even know what's happening to them. - They don't know. They're blown away by it by the time they're leaving. - I have great philosophy about all that, about the opening and when you go into depth and when you go into sadness and when you go into preaching about beliefs
of life and love.
And the ending is always philosophically what you believe and what you hope people will find a message that they can take home. ♪ To fulfill the need to be ♪ ♪ Who I am in this world ♪ ♪ Is all I ask ♪ ♪ I can't pretend to be something that I'm not ♪ ♪ And I won't wear a mask ♪ ♪ Oh, I can't survive ♪ ♪ In someone else's shadow ♪ ♪ I need my ♪ ♪ My very own little spot to stand ♪ ♪ So if you're sure it's love ♪ ♪ Please be sure it's love for me ♪ ♪ And only me ♪ ♪ They call my own ♪ ♪ Oh, I am ♪
♪ I have a need to be ♪ ♪ So if you're sure it's love for me ♪ ♪ Please be sure it's love ♪ ♪ For me and only me ♪ ♪ Oh, I have what I am ♪ ♪ And I have a need to be ♪ (audience applauding) - Thank you Marilyn.
That's the way to sing songs like that.