October 24, 2023 • 16 mins
In this episode of Takin' A Walk Buzz Knight talks to Actor Ed Begley about his new book called "To the Temple of Tranquility...And Step On It!: A Memoir."
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Taking a Walk.
Speaker 2 (00:01):
I once made the huge mistake of trying to outdrink
Harry Nelson. I did not try that a second time.
And one day we were drinking in New York and
plays called the Robata Room. We were having lunch, and
so he said, at some point, you want to join
me for dinner with some friends, and I went.
Speaker 3 (00:15):
Term and he picked me up an attack.
Speaker 2 (00:17):
Did we go to the Dakota? So Buzz I'm thinking no.
When he said dinner with friends, he couldn't possibly mean.
And the door opens and there's John Lennon.
Speaker 1 (00:26):
Welcome to another edition of Taking a Walk with Buzz
Night Today. A returning fan favorite, Buzz Night's guest has
appeared in nearly three hundred and fifty projects. Between his
television and movie career. He's earned six consecutive Primetime Emmy
Award nominations and a Golden Globe. He hosted his own
(00:46):
reality TV show, and he's been an environmental activist since
nineteen seventy. Ed Begley Junior is here to discuss his
new book, to the Temple of Tranquility and Step On
It and as a candidate, discussion about his demons, his
love of music and life here's Ed Begley Junior on
taking a walk with Buzz night.
Speaker 3 (01:10):
Ed.
Speaker 4 (01:10):
It's tremendous to be with you, sir. Not as good
as our delightful walk that we had in person last year.
You were so gracious to my friend Ruth and I, oh.
Speaker 2 (01:21):
God, that's right, coming back a flood of memory. They
had something on the list Johnny Rock and Minneapolis, and
now I know I'm talking about Pole Buzz.
Speaker 3 (01:31):
This is so great to talk to you. What a
treat this is.
Speaker 2 (01:35):
We had a great walk along the La River there.
Speaker 3 (01:37):
Thank you, Buzz.
Speaker 4 (01:38):
Oh, you're the best. Congratulations on your book to the
Temple of Tranquility and step on it. I want to
ask you, was writing the book therapeutic for you? And
are you and your lovely wife still speaking after that process?
Speaker 2 (01:56):
We are somehow still speaking after many processes we've been through.
It's not the least of which is our reality show.
The fact that our marriage survived that is a miracle.
But I love her a lot and most importantly we
have a lot of laughs. You know that you're around
us both. But this book, she's loving it now. She's
finally just now not reading it because she didn't like
to read.
Speaker 3 (02:16):
It out of a book.
Speaker 2 (02:17):
She's listening to the audio version now for the first time.
And I finished the book a year ago. I was
trying to get her to read it. But finally he's
listening to it, which I'll take. That's fine by me.
And yeah, it's only made as close as this whole process.
He's happy to have me get out of the house
and do a book tour, so it works in every
(02:37):
possible way.
Speaker 3 (02:38):
Buzz.
Speaker 4 (02:40):
You know, your transparency in the book is really not
surprising to me. You discuss personal struggles with alcohol, you
reveal your fight with Parkinson's. Have some been surprised by
your openness.
Speaker 2 (02:55):
Yeah, many people that I've even known for twenty thirty
years they didn't know that part of my life that
ended back in nineteen seventy nine, which is a good
many years ago. Gosh, that's forty three years ago, forty
almost forty four when I quit drinking for this last
time back in nineteen seventy nine. You know, I drank
the quarterback every day from nineteen seventy one through nineteen
(03:18):
seventy eight, and tried it again one last day in
nineteen seventy nine, and it just stopped working.
Speaker 3 (03:22):
Buzz.
Speaker 2 (03:23):
And that's the challenge for people who have an addictive personality,
in that addictive gene, even when it's not working, you
still do it. You're addicted to something and you can
see it's just throwing your life and your family that
you persist. So I finally got well as the saying
I can't, but we can. There are groups that help
people like that, and I found one of them, and
(03:44):
in the group you can finally really get some support
to do what you must do, which is to end
on a daily basis, not forever. You never say I'm
never going to drink again, I'm never going to take
pills again. You say I'm not going to take pills
or drink today, and you can get through today's one
bite at the time kind of meal. You can eventually
get through. And that's what I did, and it's been
(04:05):
working since nineteen seventy nine.
Speaker 4 (04:07):
Yeah, that line in the book where you say consumption,
My consumption was such that it was a growing concern
for John Belushi. That's quite a statement.
Speaker 2 (04:17):
My dear friend John was my salvation on more than
one occasion, saved me from a mad amount of drinking.
He and Juny were concerned about me. They pulled me
out of the bar in Durango, Mexico, where I was
really drinking amount of alcohol that was extremely unhealthy. And
you know, he was a great, great talent, a great comedian.
I remember for that and try not to spend too
(04:41):
much emphasis on other things, other parts of his life.
But he did indeed save me. A great friend, and
Juni is my dear friend to this day. I love
her too, and his brother is fantastic.
Speaker 4 (04:52):
You know, you talk about your time as a stand
up comic, was what was your act like?
Speaker 2 (04:57):
I was one of those drop comics buzz You know,
I wanted to. I didn't know it at the time,
but I think I was trying to make my life
as difficult as possible. First of all, just to carry around,
to ship around, you know, two different cities, all those props,
a big rigging roll. And finally I had tape playback
audio tape playback, and I had a fly projector with
(05:17):
different flies I projected up on a screen behind me
and hired my dear friend Tony Amatula to join me
on the road with that. You know, I just I
don't I must rather just tell jokes. If I ever
did it again, but I couldn't possibly do. What these
great comics are doing today is just amazing. The kind
of humor that's out there and the talent that is
(05:41):
out there doing it today. They are such good comics.
I'm sure you see a lot of them yourself on
Netflix or somewhere else. It's amazing the work they're doing.
Speaker 4 (05:50):
And you were on the bill with some pretty cool
music acts when you were doing your stand up, right.
Speaker 3 (05:57):
Yeah, The Troubadour.
Speaker 2 (05:58):
I opened for Dave Mason, I opened for can Heat,
I opened for Neil Sedaka, Don McClain, all kinds of
wonderful people on the road and at Natal Coliseum, I
opened for John Sabatan, Poko, Logando Messina, I played the
bottom Line, opening for David Bromberg, Maxas Kansas City, opening
(06:19):
for lots of acts, Manhattan Transfer and others.
Speaker 3 (06:25):
I just love being on the.
Speaker 2 (06:26):
Road and doing stand up and as good as an
actor who wants to do comedy to learn, you know
what's making people laugh throughout the country. That's a very
important lesson. So it was not time wasted doing stand up,
but helped inform me as an actor.
Speaker 4 (06:42):
Never with the Eagles, though on a bill huh never, I'm.
Speaker 2 (06:46):
Good friends to the stay with Don Henley. It was
good friends with a great Glenn Fry for many years.
And Joe Walsh is a dear friend of mine. I'm
just blessed to know these terrific people. And Timothy Schmidt
wonderful musicians, wonderful friends, great artists. And keep in mind,
Don also saved Walden Woods from being developed, so another
(07:07):
reason they'll love the great Don Henley, not just his
great singing and songwriting, but he saved Walden Woods from
having you know, like a commercial structure on it.
Speaker 4 (07:16):
And let's give a shout out to the great folks
over there, Kathy Anderson and her whole crew at the
walden Woods Project.
Speaker 2 (07:23):
They're the best, absolutely, the throw Institute and the Walden
Woods Project doing great stuff to this day, preserving the
greatest collection, the largest collection, the best collection of the
Thrower's writings and other works. It's very, very impressive what
they've done, and they continue to protect land of that
vital area, which for me was like firing up a
foundry in the Sistine Chapel. To put a development like
(07:46):
that in a place like that, it was the wrong
message to sending and Don with a few friends, was
able to stop it. So thank you Kathy Anderson for keeping.
Speaker 3 (07:54):
It going to this day.
Speaker 4 (07:56):
Describe your relationship with Tom Waits, which I was fast.
Speaker 2 (08:01):
He and I met It had just done a club
in brin Mark called the Main Point, and he was
coming into the main Point to do his wonderful act
and I heard his music and just fell in love
with his artistry and him as a person. So we
had a good many great years together just hanging out
(08:22):
and being friends. And he was there the important night
that I met my first wife, Ingrid. He was talking
to her, and Ingrid and Tom had a connection, so
became a connection for me and I wound up dating
her and then getting married just a few months after
studied the data. We were wed and had two wonderful children.
(08:42):
We are now forty six and forty five years old.
So Tom was instrumental in that and other reasons to
love Tom Waite, not to mention his wonderful recent work
he's been doing with his wife, Kathleen.
Speaker 4 (08:53):
And you're still in touch with him, I am.
Speaker 3 (08:56):
I spoke to him.
Speaker 2 (08:56):
I sent him a copy of the book hoping he'd
like because I do talk about our time together, and
he seemed.
Speaker 3 (09:03):
To love it.
Speaker 2 (09:04):
We talked on the phone at length, and he and
Kathleen really liked it. So that's the highest phrase I
could get that Tom and Kathleen would like this book,
and the way I speak about their artistry, they seemed
to okay.
Speaker 4 (09:17):
And I agree with you that The Hardest Saturday Night
is one of the greatest songs ever it is that.
Speaker 3 (09:22):
It's a great song.
Speaker 2 (09:23):
The whole album is fantastic and as many other albums,
get behind the Mule and Bad as Me.
Speaker 3 (09:30):
He's an amazing performer, amazing writer.
Speaker 2 (09:33):
Everything about him is just one of the greats of
all time.
Speaker 4 (09:36):
And then you talk about your time with the wonderful
and notorious Harry Nilsen.
Speaker 2 (09:43):
Oh, we had some fun together. He had a thirst
like me. We liked our gargle, and we certainly would
hang out at a lot of different pubs, you know,
in New York, in LA wherever we could, you know,
find time to get together.
Speaker 3 (09:58):
You know, away from our work.
Speaker 2 (10:00):
We'd certainly take the time to go and explore different
establishments around LA. I don't know how we lived through it.
I once made the huge mistake of trying to outdrink
Harry Nelson. I did not try that a second time.
Speaker 4 (10:13):
And he was really the entry point to your ultimate
meeting with John Lennon, wasn't he?
Speaker 3 (10:19):
No question?
Speaker 2 (10:20):
One day we were drinking in New York at a
place called the Robotar Room. We were having lunch and
having some Japanese food and beers, and so he said,
at some point you want to join me for dinner
with some friends, and I went sure, and he picks
me up in a taxi. We go to the Dakota
So buzz, I'm thinking no. When he said dinner with friends,
(10:40):
he couldn't possibly mean.
Speaker 3 (10:42):
Then the door opens and there's John Lennon. Come in,
Come in, Yoko. Look who's this lad? I know this
lad here? John Lennon is acting like he knows me.
Speaker 2 (10:52):
After about five minutes I realized why. He goes, oh, Yoko,
for God's sake, it's Maddy Hofman, Maddy Hoptman. It's a
deaf mute Steve. They're like fans of the show Mary Hartman,
Mary Hartman from the seventies, a Norman Lear show with
Louise Laughter. And he's acting like a fanboy to me.
You know what's ruis laughter like? And tell me about
(11:12):
Mary kay place what have you? And I'm trying to
keep my face from crystallizing, and you know, falling to
the floor talking to John Lennon yogo Ono.
Speaker 3 (11:21):
And they had no help there.
Speaker 2 (11:22):
They were just she made a mac provatic meal with
no distant to what have you. They just lived a
very simple life there in New York. It was not,
you know, some mansion, not that the Dakota is some
cheap apartments. You know, it's a beautiful, extraordinary building. But
they were very simple, wonderful people who couldn't have been nicer.
Speaker 3 (11:45):
I was very lucky to know them.
Speaker 4 (11:47):
And I love how you describe your relationship with cass Elliot.
How she was really this entry point into some great
experiences too, wasn't.
Speaker 3 (11:57):
She She was.
Speaker 2 (11:59):
She did similar thing to what Harry did to me.
She said, Oh, I'm going to go hear some friends
play downtown. We get downtown. It's the music Center, a
big bent to the downtown LA And who's playing as
Joni Mitchell with the opening act being someone I had
never heard of, nobody had ever heard of for the
most part, was that Jackson Brown. And he was brilliant,
(12:19):
of course, and Joni always brilliant and we're still friends
to this day. Jackson and I am whenever I see Joni,
you know, I know her a bit too, and just
love her. And that's the kind of thing kat Ellie
would introduce me to, Oh, we're going to have dinner
with friends up at their house, like John Lennon.
Speaker 3 (12:36):
She says the same thing.
Speaker 2 (12:38):
And so I'm brought up to dinner with some friends
and the friends are Jack Nicholson, you know, and Michelle Phillips.
So it was just incredible knowing that wonderful lady and
I know her family to this day.
Speaker 4 (12:50):
And you talk about your friendship with the Monty Python crew,
I have to ask you, did you ever do the
ministry of silly walks while you were hanging out with
the boys.
Speaker 3 (13:01):
I hadn't the nerve to do that.
Speaker 2 (13:02):
With John Clees, that was his wonderful bit. But I
know Eric Idle as well, and I see Eric Offfen
and Kanya and Eric Idol are dear friends of mine.
And John Clees we did a show together, became very
good friends. Mighty Python is one of the great comic
experiences of my youth and remain so to this day.
It's just amazing work, and I love seeing the films
(13:25):
and you know, the TV show and the different films
that they've done, the comedy albums that they've done, extraordinary stuff.
Speaker 3 (13:32):
Hands up, you know, holds up to this day.
Speaker 4 (13:35):
And I know there's going to be a next Spinal
Tap coming out. Do you have any part of this possibly?
Speaker 2 (13:43):
I've signed an NDA, so I can't talk about it.
But I'm hoping that even people who've passed away in
the Spinal Tap saga might be thought of or remembered
in some way.
Speaker 3 (13:55):
That's all I'm going to say. I'm hoping that different
people will be remembered from.
Speaker 2 (13:58):
The great story this final tap, and there are many
drummers and other performers.
Speaker 3 (14:03):
Oh, I love it. Well.
Speaker 4 (14:04):
I want to close with a couple of comments and
quotes here and get your reaction. First. I love the
Alan Watts quote where he says, drink deep from the
well of friendship and cherish this moment.
Speaker 2 (14:18):
Now.
Speaker 4 (14:18):
Can you talk about that?
Speaker 3 (14:21):
Yeah that believe it or not.
Speaker 2 (14:22):
I have the nerve to kind of mix that in
with Alan Watts quote. That's something that I actually have said,
and mean, you know, my friendship with Eric Idel, you know,
and with Dave Murkin and Beverley De Angelo and Bruce
Wagner and all these wonderful people writers and friends who
have done such great work. We get together and remember
(14:43):
our dear writer and friend, Kerry Fisher, and we are
able to still together and drink deep from the well
of friendship. And it's one of the things that sustains
me to this day.
Speaker 3 (14:53):
I'm so lucky to have.
Speaker 2 (14:54):
Friends like that, talented people like that that inspired me
to write the book and to continue to work as
an actor. I'm just blessed. I won the lottery. I
didn't even buy a ticket, Buzz.
Speaker 4 (15:05):
And then the last quote there out of the book,
focus on your breath and nothing else. Let everything else
slip away right now and then where we all visualize
a better world and we strive to make it that way.
That's so beautiful.
Speaker 2 (15:24):
Loss you for saying that, Buzz. I find solids in
those words and in those feelings, and I think that's
what we're supposed to do. Once we who have been
fortunate enough to through some of the kinds of things
that you've just spoken about. I think once you're settled
in life and know that you've covered those important matters,
we need to help others, and that's what we're here for.
Speaker 3 (15:45):
I believe.
Speaker 4 (15:46):
I'm so grateful for the opportunity to meet up with
you again and I can't thank you enough. Congrats on
the book ed and I wish you and your lovely
wife and your family well.
Speaker 3 (16:00):
Want to see you next time you come down.
Speaker 2 (16:01):
La.
Speaker 3 (16:01):
Let's take a walk again, budd, you got a.
Speaker 4 (16:03):
Deal, my friend.
Speaker 1 (16:05):
Thanks for listening to this episode of Taking a Walk.
Please share this with your friends and find Taking a
Walk on the iHeartRadio app and wherever you get your podcasts.
Taking a Walk.
Speaker 2 (00:01):
I once made the huge mistake of trying to outdrink
Harry Nelson. I did not try that a second time.
And one day we were drinking in New York and
plays called the Robata Room. We were having lunch, and
so he said, at some point, you want to join
me for dinner with some friends, and I went.
Speaker 3 (00:15):
Term and he picked me up an attack.
Speaker 2 (00:17):
Did we go to the Dakota? So Buzz I'm thinking no.
When he said dinner with friends, he couldn't possibly mean.
And the door opens and there's John Lennon.
Speaker 1 (00:26):
Welcome to another edition of Taking a Walk with Buzz
Night Today. A returning fan favorite, Buzz Night's guest has
appeared in nearly three hundred and fifty projects. Between his
television and movie career. He's earned six consecutive Primetime Emmy
Award nominations and a Golden Globe. He hosted his own
(00:46):
reality TV show, and he's been an environmental activist since
nineteen seventy. Ed Begley Junior is here to discuss his
new book, to the Temple of Tranquility and Step On
It and as a candidate, discussion about his demons, his
love of music and life here's Ed Begley Junior on
taking a walk with Buzz night.
Speaker 3 (01:10):
Ed.
Speaker 4 (01:10):
It's tremendous to be with you, sir. Not as good
as our delightful walk that we had in person last year.
You were so gracious to my friend Ruth and I, oh.
Speaker 2 (01:21):
God, that's right, coming back a flood of memory. They
had something on the list Johnny Rock and Minneapolis, and
now I know I'm talking about Pole Buzz.
Speaker 3 (01:31):
This is so great to talk to you. What a
treat this is.
Speaker 2 (01:35):
We had a great walk along the La River there.
Speaker 3 (01:37):
Thank you, Buzz.
Speaker 4 (01:38):
Oh, you're the best. Congratulations on your book to the
Temple of Tranquility and step on it. I want to
ask you, was writing the book therapeutic for you? And
are you and your lovely wife still speaking after that process?
Speaker 2 (01:56):
We are somehow still speaking after many processes we've been through.
It's not the least of which is our reality show.
The fact that our marriage survived that is a miracle.
But I love her a lot and most importantly we
have a lot of laughs. You know that you're around
us both. But this book, she's loving it now. She's
finally just now not reading it because she didn't like
to read.
Speaker 3 (02:16):
It out of a book.
Speaker 2 (02:17):
She's listening to the audio version now for the first time.
And I finished the book a year ago. I was
trying to get her to read it. But finally he's
listening to it, which I'll take. That's fine by me.
And yeah, it's only made as close as this whole process.
He's happy to have me get out of the house
and do a book tour, so it works in every
(02:37):
possible way.
Speaker 3 (02:38):
Buzz.
Speaker 4 (02:40):
You know, your transparency in the book is really not
surprising to me. You discuss personal struggles with alcohol, you
reveal your fight with Parkinson's. Have some been surprised by
your openness.
Speaker 2 (02:55):
Yeah, many people that I've even known for twenty thirty
years they didn't know that part of my life that
ended back in nineteen seventy nine, which is a good
many years ago. Gosh, that's forty three years ago, forty
almost forty four when I quit drinking for this last
time back in nineteen seventy nine. You know, I drank
the quarterback every day from nineteen seventy one through nineteen
(03:18):
seventy eight, and tried it again one last day in
nineteen seventy nine, and it just stopped working.
Speaker 3 (03:22):
Buzz.
Speaker 2 (03:23):
And that's the challenge for people who have an addictive personality,
in that addictive gene, even when it's not working, you
still do it. You're addicted to something and you can
see it's just throwing your life and your family that
you persist. So I finally got well as the saying
I can't, but we can. There are groups that help
people like that, and I found one of them, and
(03:44):
in the group you can finally really get some support
to do what you must do, which is to end
on a daily basis, not forever. You never say I'm
never going to drink again, I'm never going to take
pills again. You say I'm not going to take pills
or drink today, and you can get through today's one
bite at the time kind of meal. You can eventually
get through. And that's what I did, and it's been
(04:05):
working since nineteen seventy nine.
Speaker 4 (04:07):
Yeah, that line in the book where you say consumption,
My consumption was such that it was a growing concern
for John Belushi. That's quite a statement.
Speaker 2 (04:17):
My dear friend John was my salvation on more than
one occasion, saved me from a mad amount of drinking.
He and Juny were concerned about me. They pulled me
out of the bar in Durango, Mexico, where I was
really drinking amount of alcohol that was extremely unhealthy. And
you know, he was a great, great talent, a great comedian.
I remember for that and try not to spend too
(04:41):
much emphasis on other things, other parts of his life.
But he did indeed save me. A great friend, and
Juni is my dear friend to this day. I love
her too, and his brother is fantastic.
Speaker 4 (04:52):
You know, you talk about your time as a stand
up comic, was what was your act like?
Speaker 2 (04:57):
I was one of those drop comics buzz You know,
I wanted to. I didn't know it at the time,
but I think I was trying to make my life
as difficult as possible. First of all, just to carry around,
to ship around, you know, two different cities, all those props,
a big rigging roll. And finally I had tape playback
audio tape playback, and I had a fly projector with
(05:17):
different flies I projected up on a screen behind me
and hired my dear friend Tony Amatula to join me
on the road with that. You know, I just I
don't I must rather just tell jokes. If I ever
did it again, but I couldn't possibly do. What these
great comics are doing today is just amazing. The kind
of humor that's out there and the talent that is
(05:41):
out there doing it today. They are such good comics.
I'm sure you see a lot of them yourself on
Netflix or somewhere else. It's amazing the work they're doing.
Speaker 4 (05:50):
And you were on the bill with some pretty cool
music acts when you were doing your stand up, right.
Speaker 3 (05:57):
Yeah, The Troubadour.
Speaker 2 (05:58):
I opened for Dave Mason, I opened for can Heat,
I opened for Neil Sedaka, Don McClain, all kinds of
wonderful people on the road and at Natal Coliseum, I
opened for John Sabatan, Poko, Logando Messina, I played the
bottom Line, opening for David Bromberg, Maxas Kansas City, opening
(06:19):
for lots of acts, Manhattan Transfer and others.
Speaker 3 (06:25):
I just love being on the.
Speaker 2 (06:26):
Road and doing stand up and as good as an
actor who wants to do comedy to learn, you know
what's making people laugh throughout the country. That's a very
important lesson. So it was not time wasted doing stand up,
but helped inform me as an actor.
Speaker 4 (06:42):
Never with the Eagles, though on a bill huh never, I'm.
Speaker 2 (06:46):
Good friends to the stay with Don Henley. It was
good friends with a great Glenn Fry for many years.
And Joe Walsh is a dear friend of mine. I'm
just blessed to know these terrific people. And Timothy Schmidt
wonderful musicians, wonderful friends, great artists. And keep in mind,
Don also saved Walden Woods from being developed, so another
(07:07):
reason they'll love the great Don Henley, not just his
great singing and songwriting, but he saved Walden Woods from
having you know, like a commercial structure on it.
Speaker 4 (07:16):
And let's give a shout out to the great folks
over there, Kathy Anderson and her whole crew at the
walden Woods Project.
Speaker 2 (07:23):
They're the best, absolutely, the throw Institute and the Walden
Woods Project doing great stuff to this day, preserving the
greatest collection, the largest collection, the best collection of the
Thrower's writings and other works. It's very, very impressive what
they've done, and they continue to protect land of that
vital area, which for me was like firing up a
foundry in the Sistine Chapel. To put a development like
(07:46):
that in a place like that, it was the wrong
message to sending and Don with a few friends, was
able to stop it. So thank you Kathy Anderson for keeping.
Speaker 3 (07:54):
It going to this day.
Speaker 4 (07:56):
Describe your relationship with Tom Waits, which I was fast.
Speaker 2 (08:01):
He and I met It had just done a club
in brin Mark called the Main Point, and he was
coming into the main Point to do his wonderful act
and I heard his music and just fell in love
with his artistry and him as a person. So we
had a good many great years together just hanging out
(08:22):
and being friends. And he was there the important night
that I met my first wife, Ingrid. He was talking
to her, and Ingrid and Tom had a connection, so
became a connection for me and I wound up dating
her and then getting married just a few months after
studied the data. We were wed and had two wonderful children.
(08:42):
We are now forty six and forty five years old.
So Tom was instrumental in that and other reasons to
love Tom Waite, not to mention his wonderful recent work
he's been doing with his wife, Kathleen.
Speaker 4 (08:53):
And you're still in touch with him, I am.
Speaker 3 (08:56):
I spoke to him.
Speaker 2 (08:56):
I sent him a copy of the book hoping he'd
like because I do talk about our time together, and
he seemed.
Speaker 3 (09:03):
To love it.
Speaker 2 (09:04):
We talked on the phone at length, and he and
Kathleen really liked it. So that's the highest phrase I
could get that Tom and Kathleen would like this book,
and the way I speak about their artistry, they seemed
to okay.
Speaker 4 (09:17):
And I agree with you that The Hardest Saturday Night
is one of the greatest songs ever it is that.
Speaker 3 (09:22):
It's a great song.
Speaker 2 (09:23):
The whole album is fantastic and as many other albums,
get behind the Mule and Bad as Me.
Speaker 3 (09:30):
He's an amazing performer, amazing writer.
Speaker 2 (09:33):
Everything about him is just one of the greats of
all time.
Speaker 4 (09:36):
And then you talk about your time with the wonderful
and notorious Harry Nilsen.
Speaker 2 (09:43):
Oh, we had some fun together. He had a thirst
like me. We liked our gargle, and we certainly would
hang out at a lot of different pubs, you know,
in New York, in LA wherever we could, you know,
find time to get together.
Speaker 3 (09:58):
You know, away from our work.
Speaker 2 (10:00):
We'd certainly take the time to go and explore different
establishments around LA. I don't know how we lived through it.
I once made the huge mistake of trying to outdrink
Harry Nelson. I did not try that a second time.
Speaker 4 (10:13):
And he was really the entry point to your ultimate
meeting with John Lennon, wasn't he?
Speaker 3 (10:19):
No question?
Speaker 2 (10:20):
One day we were drinking in New York at a
place called the Robotar Room. We were having lunch and
having some Japanese food and beers, and so he said,
at some point you want to join me for dinner
with some friends, and I went sure, and he picks
me up in a taxi. We go to the Dakota
So buzz, I'm thinking no. When he said dinner with friends,
(10:40):
he couldn't possibly mean.
Speaker 3 (10:42):
Then the door opens and there's John Lennon. Come in,
Come in, Yoko. Look who's this lad? I know this
lad here? John Lennon is acting like he knows me.
Speaker 2 (10:52):
After about five minutes I realized why. He goes, oh, Yoko,
for God's sake, it's Maddy Hofman, Maddy Hoptman. It's a
deaf mute Steve. They're like fans of the show Mary Hartman,
Mary Hartman from the seventies, a Norman Lear show with
Louise Laughter. And he's acting like a fanboy to me.
You know what's ruis laughter like? And tell me about
(11:12):
Mary kay place what have you? And I'm trying to
keep my face from crystallizing, and you know, falling to
the floor talking to John Lennon yogo Ono.
Speaker 3 (11:21):
And they had no help there.
Speaker 2 (11:22):
They were just she made a mac provatic meal with
no distant to what have you. They just lived a
very simple life there in New York. It was not,
you know, some mansion, not that the Dakota is some
cheap apartments. You know, it's a beautiful, extraordinary building. But
they were very simple, wonderful people who couldn't have been nicer.
Speaker 3 (11:45):
I was very lucky to know them.
Speaker 4 (11:47):
And I love how you describe your relationship with cass Elliot.
How she was really this entry point into some great
experiences too, wasn't.
Speaker 3 (11:57):
She She was.
Speaker 2 (11:59):
She did similar thing to what Harry did to me.
She said, Oh, I'm going to go hear some friends
play downtown. We get downtown. It's the music Center, a
big bent to the downtown LA And who's playing as
Joni Mitchell with the opening act being someone I had
never heard of, nobody had ever heard of for the
most part, was that Jackson Brown. And he was brilliant,
(12:19):
of course, and Joni always brilliant and we're still friends
to this day. Jackson and I am whenever I see Joni,
you know, I know her a bit too, and just
love her. And that's the kind of thing kat Ellie
would introduce me to, Oh, we're going to have dinner
with friends up at their house, like John Lennon.
Speaker 3 (12:36):
She says the same thing.
Speaker 2 (12:38):
And so I'm brought up to dinner with some friends
and the friends are Jack Nicholson, you know, and Michelle Phillips.
So it was just incredible knowing that wonderful lady and
I know her family to this day.
Speaker 4 (12:50):
And you talk about your friendship with the Monty Python crew,
I have to ask you, did you ever do the
ministry of silly walks while you were hanging out with
the boys.
Speaker 3 (13:01):
I hadn't the nerve to do that.
Speaker 2 (13:02):
With John Clees, that was his wonderful bit. But I
know Eric Idle as well, and I see Eric Offfen
and Kanya and Eric Idol are dear friends of mine.
And John Clees we did a show together, became very
good friends. Mighty Python is one of the great comic
experiences of my youth and remain so to this day.
It's just amazing work, and I love seeing the films
(13:25):
and you know, the TV show and the different films
that they've done, the comedy albums that they've done, extraordinary stuff.
Speaker 3 (13:32):
Hands up, you know, holds up to this day.
Speaker 4 (13:35):
And I know there's going to be a next Spinal
Tap coming out. Do you have any part of this possibly?
Speaker 2 (13:43):
I've signed an NDA, so I can't talk about it.
But I'm hoping that even people who've passed away in
the Spinal Tap saga might be thought of or remembered
in some way.
Speaker 3 (13:55):
That's all I'm going to say. I'm hoping that different
people will be remembered from.
Speaker 2 (13:58):
The great story this final tap, and there are many
drummers and other performers.
Speaker 3 (14:03):
Oh, I love it. Well.
Speaker 4 (14:04):
I want to close with a couple of comments and
quotes here and get your reaction. First. I love the
Alan Watts quote where he says, drink deep from the
well of friendship and cherish this moment.
Speaker 2 (14:18):
Now.
Speaker 4 (14:18):
Can you talk about that?
Speaker 3 (14:21):
Yeah that believe it or not.
Speaker 2 (14:22):
I have the nerve to kind of mix that in
with Alan Watts quote. That's something that I actually have said,
and mean, you know, my friendship with Eric Idel, you know,
and with Dave Murkin and Beverley De Angelo and Bruce
Wagner and all these wonderful people writers and friends who
have done such great work. We get together and remember
(14:43):
our dear writer and friend, Kerry Fisher, and we are
able to still together and drink deep from the well
of friendship. And it's one of the things that sustains
me to this day.
Speaker 3 (14:53):
I'm so lucky to have.
Speaker 2 (14:54):
Friends like that, talented people like that that inspired me
to write the book and to continue to work as
an actor. I'm just blessed. I won the lottery. I
didn't even buy a ticket, Buzz.
Speaker 4 (15:05):
And then the last quote there out of the book,
focus on your breath and nothing else. Let everything else
slip away right now and then where we all visualize
a better world and we strive to make it that way.
That's so beautiful.
Speaker 2 (15:24):
Loss you for saying that, Buzz. I find solids in
those words and in those feelings, and I think that's
what we're supposed to do. Once we who have been
fortunate enough to through some of the kinds of things
that you've just spoken about. I think once you're settled
in life and know that you've covered those important matters,
we need to help others, and that's what we're here for.
Speaker 3 (15:45):
I believe.
Speaker 4 (15:46):
I'm so grateful for the opportunity to meet up with
you again and I can't thank you enough. Congrats on
the book ed and I wish you and your lovely
wife and your family well.
Speaker 3 (16:00):
Want to see you next time you come down.
Speaker 2 (16:01):
La.
Speaker 3 (16:01):
Let's take a walk again, budd, you got a.
Speaker 4 (16:03):
Deal, my friend.
Speaker 1 (16:05):
Thanks for listening to this episode of Taking a Walk.
Please share this with your friends and find Taking a
Walk on the iHeartRadio app and wherever you get your podcasts.
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