PAT BOONE – Taking the ‘Sin’ Out of Sin City

EDITOR'S NOTE: This is part of an occasional series of stories highlighting performers who played an interesting role in the history of entertainment in Las Vegas.

When he was 23 years old and riding the first crest of his popularity in 1957, Pat Boone told the press he would never appear in a place where liquor was served.

"I turned down offers when my career was hot. You know, a lot of money. And I thought: 'OK. I don't need that.' I have offers and other things I need to do," he told me recently.

Among the offers he repeatedly rejected was headlining in Las Vegas.

"I did have a reluctance to appear in Las Vegas because before I went there I thought of it, as many people may, as a den of thieves and corruption, like Pinocchio at Pleasure Island -- I imagined it a place where you could do anything and everything you wanted and where there was no penalty."

He eventually was drawn to Las Vegas to see friend Gary Crosby and the Crosby Boys (Bing Crosby's sons) perform.

"When I looked around the showroom, I forget now what hotel, ... I saw people in shirt sleeves, just family folks. And I said to myself: 'Wait a minute. These look like the very same people I perform for in the state fairs around the country.' And in my shows these are just home folk that have come to Las Vegas to have a vacation, and they deserve a good family show, you know. Maybe that's what I should do."

He opened at the Sahara in July 1962, and apparently some were surprised to see him in Las Vegas, too.

The Sahara was "one of the last places you'd expect to find Pat Boone," Los Angeles Times reviewer John L. Scott wrote in a rave review Aug. 1, 1962. "He's an easygoing performer who knows how to turn on the charm, and he's in good voice."

Born Charles Eugene Patrick Boone in Jacksonville, Fla., on June 1, 1934, his family settled in Nashville two years later. He is a 1958 graduate of Columbia University School of General Studies in New York.

In 1953, he married Shirley Lee Foley, daughter of country music legend Red Foley. The couple would have four daughters: Cheryl Lynn, Linda Lee, Deborah Ann ("Debby") and Laura Gene.

Boone attracted national attention through both Ted Mack's "The Original Amateur Hour" and "Arthur Godfrey's Talent Scouts" on television. This led to his first recordings in 1954.

The following year saw the release of Boone's cover of Fats Domino's R&B hit "Ain't That A Shame," which set the trend for a while of Boone's recordings -- covering R&B hits of the day.

By the end of the 1950s, he had already hosted his own network television show and had a No. 1 hit record with "April Love," from his 1957 film of the same name, which co-starred Shirley Jones. (Being a married man, Boone refused to do a screen kiss with Jones in the film. Some of his other movies include "State Fair" and "The Greatest Story Ever Told.")

Among his other Top 10 recordings are "Don't Forbid Me," "Love Letters in the Sand," "Remember You're Mine," "Moody River," "Speedy Gonzales" and "A Wonderful Time Up There."

Boone also was known for his white bucks shoes and he did not forget them during his first appearance at the Sahara.

"I came out and I'm singing my opening tune in my tux and I sing a few songs and get acquainted with the audience and vice versa, and then I act like I'm having trouble getting started with my next song, and I say: 'Wait a minute. I need something.' And from the ceiling they would lower a pair of white buck shoes and I would actually sit down and change shoes onstage," he told me. "Well I must say that in a tuxedo and my white buck shoes, I looked a little ludicrous. I didn't do that but for the one engagement."

Supporting Boone in the opening were the Herb Buchanan Orchestra, comedian Bobby Ramsen -- "He was a good comedian, and we kept the show clean and nice," Boone said -- and The Johnny Wood Trio, which performed dance-acrobatics.

Boone surrounded himself with exceptional talent during his appearances in Las Vegas, such as Mort Lindsey, who had worked with Judy Garland, and Paul Smith, who had worked with Ella Fitzgerald, Sarah Vaughan and Sammy Davis Jr.

It was with Smith in August 1964, while he was appearing at the Sahara, that Boone turned a Bach fugue into "Hound Dog." Smith even took off his shoes and banged the piano at a frantic pace as Boone rocked the house. Eventually, Boone's "Love Letters in the Sand" and "The Theme from Exodus" (which he had written the lyrics for, "This Land is Mine,") brought even bigger applause.

"I enjoyed the Sahara," Boone said. "And in between shows, Steve, with my family there, what took me there was a huge payday. I mean, that plus my never understanding there would be family folks there I would be entertaining. So maybe that's a good thing. I gave them a family show to come to instead of the 'Lido de Paris,' or something, or a dirty comedian, you know."

In 1966, Boone appeared at the Sands with comic Joe E. Lewis, who would perform while sloshing a drink in his hand. "That was something," Boone said, laughing. "Jack Entratter, who was quite a showman, a booker, he just thought, 'We're pairing some unusual duos in some of these hotels, so let's put Pat Boone and Joe. E Lewis together and see how it goes.' "

Boone said it was difficult for the performers to appeal to each other's fans and the pairing lasted just one run.

Another time, Boone said, he was disappointed with himself when he did not let Judy Garland fill in for him at the Desert Inn when he was ill. At the time, he felt he had a duty to his fans to appear.

"It was really selfish. I should have stepped aside and let Judy Garland come in," he told me.

In August 1968, Boone opened at the Flamingo with Dick Shawn. Boone returned on July 20, 1969, with Sonny and Cher as his opening act. That appearance coincided with the Apollo 11 moon landing.

"I was watching it in the room on TV at the hotel, a nice suite they give the performers. And it was approaching showtime. But man, incredible human history was unfolding right before our eyes. I just assumed, 'Surely there's not going to be a show right now. Surely everybody's glued to their TV sets,' " he remembered. "And I'm watching this thing, the Apollo 11 setting down on the moon, and it was so incredibly hypnotic to watch. And I get a telephone call in the room. And it's the maitre d' and he says: 'Pat where are you? Sonny and Cher are getting pretty close to getting through. Where are you?' And I said, 'Is there a show going on, now?' And he said: 'Of course! The room's packed. You've got only eight minutes and you're on!' "

Boone couldn't resist teasing the fans. "I went out and I sang my opening song. And then I said: 'Boy folks, as you know this is such an incredible night. Apollo 11 has landed on the moon, and Neil Armstrong said, 'One small step for man, one giant leap for mankind.' And I said, 'Even out here in the casino as I came here to do the show, the patriotic crowd -- I heard them yelling, 'Come on 11. Come on 11' at the craps tables.' And I made a wry joke about how could people be out there rolling dice and even in there watching our show instead of watching people, human beings, Americans, land on the moon and walk on the surface. So I'll never forget that night."

Boone performed in several hotels during his years in Las Vegas, including the Thunderbird, Frontier and Fremont. Although attendance at his shows was good, the fan base did not meet casino expectations.

"They weren't getting folks who were drinking and gambling. They (the fans) were just enjoying their meal, which was you know a bargain then, and a show and just having a good time. And then they would just go up to bed. And so I went from hotel to hotel always attracting big crowds. But eventually the offers faded because they wanted folks in there."

Boone's third daughter, Debby Boone, launched her own successful recording career in the mid-1970s with "You Light Up My Life." Father and daughter appeared together in April 1978 at the Sahara.

Boone was raised in the Church of Christ denomination and remains a Christian advocate as well as a firm Republican supporter. In recent years, he has become a motivational speaker and authored numerous best-selling books.

He has continued recording, sometimes with a wry sense of humor as in an album of heavy metal cover tunes, "In A Metal Mood: No More Mr. Nice Guy," in 1997.

And Boone's music remains as close as the Internet. "If you go to Pat Boone Radio 24/7 on my Web site, we have already put on over 1,200 songs in random shuffle. ... So if you want, you can have me singing to you night and day."

Boone has no regrets about his decision to perform in Las Vegas. "I enjoyed it thoroughly," he recalled. "It was hard, two shows a night. ... And I wore my white bucks."