My Real Memoir
As a kid I wanted with every fiber of my being to sing and dance and kiss girls the way Gene Kelly kissed Debbie Reynolds in Singin’ in the Rain. And so, in sixth grade, I decided to open a professional theatre in my back yard (which was just slightly larger than my bedspread). Our premiere show would be Tammy and the Bachelor, starring me and Debbie Reynolds, in which we would kiss a lot!
You’ll be surprised to learn it never happened. To be honest, I didn’t even have her phone number. But that’s OK. Debbie and I had our moment when I was eighteen and in a band called The Daily Planet…
Following our ABC TV special, producer-publisher Robert “Bob” Petersen, booked us for the Motor Trend Car Show in San Diego. He also planned to sponsor a tour with us and Glen Campbell, which we graciously agreed to let Glen headline (since he had roughly two million hits and we’d had roughly none).
Honestly? I think we were the only band Bob knew. But movie stars he knew—gobs of ‘em! In fact, he was close friends with my old flame, Debbie Reynolds. So, when Debbie asked him to host a fundraiser in his Beverly Hills back yard (which was just slightly larger than six or seven thousand of my bedspreads), he said, “We should have live music. I’ll book the only band I know!”
Being middle class suburban kids, we’d played for exactly 0 famous people. Literally everyone at Bob and Debbie’s shindig was famous—we were the only people there I’d never heard of!
I was disappointed when Debbie failed to recognize me, even after she borrowed my microphone to tell everyone that the buffet was ready. But then she turned to me and said the words I’ll never forget, “Could you turn it down a little?”
Not even a glimmer of recognition. I instantly realized we were not going to be kissing a lot. Which was OK because, 1) She was kinda old (like, my mom’s age!), and 2) She didn’t like my band.
There was a gaggle of pre-teen girls there, however, who absolutely adored us. They were led by a perky brunette who insisted that we were not too loud, that we were, in fact, “perfect!” She and her homies stayed in front of the bandstand all night, dancing, singing along with us, arguing over which of us was “the cutest,” and getting our autographs on every unclaimed cocktail napkin. In short, they made us feel like bigger stars than their parents!
Later, after most of the guests had left, my ex, Debbie Reynolds came up to the perky brunette, and said, “Time to go home, Carrie.” Carrie Fisher blew me a kiss as her mother dragged her away.
A few years later, in a galaxy far away, I watched as a perky brunette Princess Leia lit up the screen, and I wondered…
“Does she still have my autograph?”
My Real Memoir is a series. To read the next one, click here.
Wow!
Great story! Thanks!
My pleasure, Frank.
Awesome and Amazing !
Ah, small beginnings lead to so much more, especially in our imagination! Thank you, Mitch, for sharing a good story of beginnings.
My pleasure, Hazel.
😊
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“Time to go home, Carrie”?! Wow! I bet that was a memorable night!
It was indeed, Priscilla. Although, of course, Carrie wasn’t a star until years later.
What an incredible story!! Put a big smile on my face. 😁
I saw Debbie Reynolds from the studio audience of a TV music show in New York that featured her and “Danny and the Juniors”. It was in the late 50s, before she became a mom. She didn’t notice me at all.
You could be wrong, Rob. I’ll bet she carried a torch for “that handsome guy in the fifth row” for year after that.
Very sweet 🙂
You were quite a precocious sixth grader.! Your story was quite captivating-and amusing! 🙂
Thanks, Nancy!
A fun story, Mitch. Some terrific laugh lines in there.
Thank you, John.
If you’d had a mind to, when Carrie became famous as Princess Leia you could have gotten some mileage from this, very casually saying to your guy friends “Ah yes, Carrie – I have fond memories of that day we spent together at her house. . .’ Technically true, never mind the details haha
Actually, it wasn’t her house, but as you say, never mind the details. ;>)
Well, that’s fun. We all know that the next day she started abusing all sorts of drugs and alcohol and it would take her decades to sober up. You ‘knew’ her before all that.
Sadly, yes, Jeff. She had a rough life journey.
Oh wow! Is this a dream or real? Great story either way 😊Maggie
Real, Maggie. Thanks.
Wow!!
That is quite a story!
Awesome!! What memories!
Wow!
I didn’t know Carrie Fisher was Debbie Reynolds’ daughter… I also don’t know how much of this is true. 🤨 JK – great story.
Reminds me of my songwriting years when I asked a country music star I liked for his autograph. After he signed the paper I’d handed him, I showed him that he had signed a contract to sing a song I had written. He left with the demo, but he never honored that contract! 😠Guess I should have specified WHEN. 😏
Mitch, as a fellow teenage musician and rabble rouser, I tend to take what you say at face value. Debbie and Carrie, why not? You tell such a great story, and with feeling, it’s hard to not believe every word of it, until the bus comes, and the feather floats away. Keep it light and bright my friend, and one day, when you come by Granbury Texas, we can tell some great lies, pick a few tunes and compare surgery scars. More to come?
Wonderful. What great memories.
One day, 43 years ago, I bumped into Charlotte Ladd while I was at work. I was dumbstruck with her beauty and said essentially nothing. Your moment with a famous, though tragic, beauty sounds far more interesting.
That was of course, Carrie. Though Mom did die of a broken heart. And you and I by God’s grace have lived long enough to look back to memories of long ago.
This tickled me so…thanks for sharing, Mitch. Your California stories and ‘star sightings’ are always a delight and this one? A mother-daughter gem! 😎
Mitch,
You never know. Funny how people meet or don’t meet in life. It makes for a great moment, though.
In Chr
Cheers to your delightful memories!
Howdy. Have you seen the series Catastrophe? I like it a lot. Carrie Fisher is in it. This was, I think, her final role. Neil S.
Lovely story
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