(upbeat music) ♪ ♪ Yeah the simple things in life ♪ - My guest is Grammy Award-winning singer, songwriter, author, and beautiful baritone, Bill Medley, with the incomparable Righteous Brothers.

Welcome, and thank you so much for joining us.

- Well, thank you.

Thanks for having us.

- So, growing up in Southern California, in Santa Ana, and singing in the church choir, were you writing songs at that time for you to sing or for others to sing?

And then, also, talk to me about your youth growing up in Santa Ana with musical parents.

- Well, it was pretty much like "Happy Days" back there, you know?

But, I didn't get into music, even though my mom and dad had a band called The Rhythm Hounds, but when they started having us kids, they kind of put that on the shelf.

So, I wasn't really raised around- - Oh?

- a lot of music, but I was in church choirs, school choirs, and loved it, but I didn't really start writing until-?

Till I was about 17, 18 years old, and taught myself how to play the piano a little bit.

In 1955, I was 15, so it couldn't be better, you know.

Great, great time.

I always said to go from 10 years old to 20 years old in the '50s was a pretty good, amazing time.

But, my mom was a singer, a piano player.

My dad was a sax player.

But, boy, on both sides of my family was a lot of music, and I just fell into it, thank God.

Literally, "thank God."

I mean, I was, I was heading, heading into a mountain, and God took me by the collar and said, "Well, you've messed everything else up.

Maybe you can try music!"

- And boy, was He right.

That's for sure.

Now, I'm not gonna ask you, 'cause I know you've been asked a hundred, a thousand times, about how The Righteous Brothers got their name.

And so, I'm not gonna go there.

I think you've been asked that question since "The Andy Williams Show" back in the '50s or '60s, so I get it!

But, I do wanna know, did people ever think that you and Bobby were brothers?

- Oh yeah, of course.

I mean, I think (chuckles) I think it's like when they say people start to look like their animals!

(both laugh) I think Bobby and I started to even look alike.

But, yeah.

We were-- a lot of people thought we were brothers, but we always thought that was kind of weird because how many families are named Righteous?

(chuckles) - (laughs) That's funny!

- Bill Righteous, Bobby Righteous!

- Right.

For sure.

Alright.

I wanna talk about one of your early songs.

Talk to me about "Little Latin Lupe Lu," its origin and its inspiration.

Was that from growing up in Santa Ana?

- Yeah, actually it was.

When I was, I think 17, I was one of those real jerks that quit school when he was 16, and all that.

And, man, I don't recommend that, kids!

If there is any kids watching!

(chuckles) But, yeah, I went to hairdressing school 'cause my mom was a hairdresser and I, you know, like I said, I was heading into a mountain with my life.

So, I met a girl in beauty school, and we dated for a while, and her name was Lupe.

- Ohh!

- And then, when I started writing songs, I just kind of liked-- the "Little Latin Lupe Lu" was fun to sing and-- but, yeah.

It was one of the first songs I ever wrote.

It's-- It's a-?

It's a pretty simple, weird little song, but thank God, it got everything started and moving.

- Is that the song that got people up-- higher above's attention?

- Well, it was pretty odd.

I mean, The Righteous Brothers never really asked for anything, and we weren't really planning on being a team.

We were just working together.

A friend of Bobby's and a friend of mine put us together because he had a- Bobby had a group called The Variations, and I had a group called The Paramours, and just threw us together, but I had been doing some background work for Moonglow Records, that was local in Orange County.

And he came in to see us, or to see me, one night, and we were doing "Little Latin Lupe Lu" in the show only because it was-- kids loved to dance to it, - Mm hm.

- and this and that.

And he said, "Boy, I love that song."

He said, "Why don't we record it?"

And we said, "Sure, why not?"

And because it was just Bobby and I, and it was a song I wrote, and produced and arranged.

And, we needed a name.

We didn't want to go by The Paramours, and I'm gonna tell you the story, even though I know you were probably told not to ask me!

But we were working in Santa Ana at John's Black Derby, and it was very white back there, in Santa Ana, especially.

But, there was a Marine base, El Toro Marine base, where a lot of the Black Marines heard that there was these two guys singing rhythm and blues down at the club.

So, they would come down and-- like if you had a great looking car, great '55 Chevy car, they would say, "Man, that's a righteous car," which meant good.

- Right!

- And if they liked you as a friend, they'd call you a brother.

So, a lot of times when Bobby and I would come to work, they'd say, "Hey, righteous brother!

How you doing?"

which meant, "Hey, good friend."

And so when we recorded "Lupe Lu," we needed a name, and I think it was Bobby that said, "You know what, man, we ought to call ourself what the Marines had been calling us," Well, the names I can use!

(both laugh) But, we wish they would've called us the Beatles, but they didn't!

- And it stuck, right?

You never looked back once you had that name?

- No It just... it just took off, and we took off, and you know, then-- I mean, we went on the Beatles tour, the Rolling Stones tour, their first American tours.

And while we were on the Beatles tour, we had been asked to do the TV show, "Shindig!"

So, we left the Beatle tour about three-quarters of the way in, which was a stupid thing to do.

How do you leave the Beatles tour and land on your feet?

But, we did.

And we accidentally were in, we were in a nightclub, visiting a couple of our friends that were performing there, and they had called us up on stage to sing.

So-- but the producer of "Shindig!"

was in the show, and he was there to see our friends, but when he heard us, he said, "I think I'll go with those two guys."

- You did make the decision to leave the Beatles tour.

Why did you make that decision when they were just coming on and were popular, because you were their opening act, right?

- "Shindig!"

wanted us to do the pilot.

And the pilot was about halfway through the Beatle tour.

- Oh!

- And we went to Brian Epstein, and said, "Would it be okay if we, we have this opportunity?"

And he was, he was great.

And he said, "Sure."

You know?

"Good luck."

And The Beatles were great and The Stones were great.

You know, it's real interesting to think about the Beatle tour because Bobby and I finally figured out that, man, we had front row tickets to history, you know?

It was really, really quite amazing.

I mean, when we got, when they asked us to do the tour, we didn't have a clue who they were.

I think they did pretty good!

- Yeah!

I'd say they did!

(laughs) I'd say they did, as well.

Now, you were talking about when you were younger, you probably made some ill decisions.

- You think?

- Well?

Ill decisions!

(he chuckles) What got you to the music?

How did the music grab you to change your path?

- Other than, you know, when I was 15, and first heard Little Richard, I just-- I immediately fell in love with rock and roll.

But, real rock and roll: pushy, Black rock and roll, rhythm and blues.

All the guys that I was hanging out with on the corner, and this and that, knew that I could sing and I'd sing to the radio.

And one of my friends had written a song and he said, "Would you learn the song and sing it?

'Cause I'd like to hear my song with somebody that can really sing."

- Ohh.

- So, "I don't know that I can really sing, but I'll give it a shot."

And for some reason that bug just-?

- Ahh!

Bit you!

- Bit me.

Yeah.

From that point on, I was in our living room about 12 hours a day, pounding on the piano and writing songs.

And that's really what I started out to do, was to be a, not a singer-songwriter, but a songwriter.

- So, thank goodness, the bug bit you for all of us.

So, thank you.

I wanna talk a little bit now-- you and Bobby Hatfield were inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, and fortunately Bobby was still with us, and it was a glorious evening with Billy Joel doing the introductions.

Obviously, it was a very special evening for you.

- Incredible.

I mean, for a lot of-- it was really an honor, you know, to go into the Hall of Fame because it's kind of the stamp of approval that yeah, you made a difference in music, and this and that.

But, one of the great things was, is that you don't get a real good chance to be around a lot of other artists, Elton John, and Steve Tyler, and Sting, and a whole bunch of people.

And, for them to come up to us and say, "I just want you to know how you influenced us."

That was, that was really, really wonderful and remarkable.

And Billy Joel, too, but it was a great night.

And Bobby and all of his family were there, and all of my family.

And yeah, Bobby passed away going-- what a roller-coaster year it was going into the Hall of Fame, in March, I think it was, And then, Bobby passing in November.

It was the good, bad, and the ugly.

- For sure.

- And we just, we miss Bobby a lot.

- For sure.

But, after the passing of Bobby in 2003, did you wanna keep performing those classic songs or did you wonder if there could be another person that could possibly fill Bobby's shoes as a Righteous Brother until you saw and heard Bucky Heard perform?

- Yeah, I wasn't-- I was never actually looking to reform The Righteous Brothers.

But, I was performing solo in, in Branson, Missouri and Bucky Heard was performing there, and I got to-- Bucky and I became real good friends back in 2006.

In the Legends show, he was doing The Blues Brothers.

- Oh.

- And he was doing John Belushi, and I would see him, but I didn't, you know, John Belushi didn't, wasn't-?

Not a bad singer, that's for damn sure, but not a "singer" singer.

- Right, right.

- Well, I never knew Bucky could, like, really sing.

And then we ran into each other at a friend's wedding, and he said, "I'm working down-- I left Legends, "and I'm working down the street, and I'm gonna be doing a lot of Journey songs."

- Oh.

- And I said, "Journey?"

I said, "My God, you have to do Steve Perry?"

I said, "Stop now!"

(chuckles) And, I was out to dinner with some friends, and I said, "You know, Bucky's doing this, kind of a tribute to Journey."

And so, we went in to see him and, boy, he just, he just killed me.

I mean, he nailed it, and he was good.

And I was taking a walk the next day, 'cause I'd had a lot of people pressuring me to reform The Righteous Brothers and said, "Boy, people still-- they want to hear this music."

So, I was taking a walk.

I said, "Wow, man!

If I was gonna do it, Bucky is the guy to do it with," because, you know, taking on a partner, and I don't know if you've ever been married, or this and that.

But it's like, (Lillian laughs) it's like a marriage and taking on taking on a partner, that's like a mail-order bride!

You just don't know what the heck you're getting!

But thank God, Bucky and I were friends for, you know, a long time, and I just loved him and I loved the way he sang.

And, he was a great father and a great husband.

So, I just knew he was the right guy to do it with if I was gonna do it.

- Right.

- And, we sat down at the piano and did a few songs, and boy, it just worked amazingly.

He's wonderful.

- Before we move on from Bobby, I'm wondering if you could share maybe a fun story, or an unusual situation?

Or maybe some time spent together off the stage?

If you can recall a story, I don't know, maybe from your book or something, about Bobby before we move on?

And then, I wanna dive into Bucky.

- We were performing in, God, I forget what section, but it was in Texas and they had these pretty big animals.

Oh, not big; about a foot, foot and a half.

And we went to work and somehow, some way, he snuck in back into my room and he had some big animal that was stuffed, and this and that, and put it in my bed!

So, when I came in after the show and I threw the covers back, there was a huge-- and I can't remember what kind of animal it was, but it scared the heck out of me!

- Let's talk about Bucky Heard.

I saw the two of you perform at the California Theater here in San Bernardino, and I remember thinking on my way, and sitting there, like, there's no way!

And then he sang that first note, and he had me at that point, and I'm sure he had the entire audience.

And you kind of explained why Bucky was the right guy to continue The Righteous Brothers' music, but tell me a little bit more.

When he sings some of those songs, or when he's singing with you, and even by himself, his voice is phenomenal.

And he just, for some of us that love The Righteous Brothers' music, gets to carry it on with you.

Tell me about that experience.

- If Bucky was a real good friend of mine, I wouldn't have, I shouldn't have asked him to be a Righteous Brother!

Pretty big shoes to fill, you know, but both Bucky and I knew that, and we knew going in that it was gonna be tough.

And, I had two questions.

We had a three-month deal in Vegas.

And so, I had two questions.

The first question was, I wonder if anybody cares that there's a Righteous Brothers?

The other thing was/is will they accept Bucky, not "replacing" Bobby.

We really figure that, you know, we call it that he's "filling in" for Bobby, and even though he is a Righteous Brother.

So, the first job we did was in Laughlin, Nevada.

And we had five nights to do there, because I wanted to do five nights in a row, way out in the middle of nowhere, (both chuckling) so we could work on the show and work on our act and kind of fall into it.

And, I went-- I came down, Bucky and I came down for the first show, and I asked Tim Lee, our road manager, I said, "Well, how are we doing?"

He said, "Well, it's sold out."

I said, "Holy mackerel."

He said, "No, it's-- all five days are sold out!"

So, I said, "Well, that answers one question."

They care that there's a Righteous Brothers.

So now, I wonder, I wonder if they'll accept Bucky, you know, being in the group.

And, if you saw the show, about four or five songs in, Bucky does "Crying" by Roy Orbison.

And, I put that in the show, literally, so they could hear how good this guy was.

And it's not a Righteous Brothers song, so they wouldn't be comparing him to Bobby or anything else.

And so, he was doing "Crying," and I walked off stage, and I came back right when he was finishing, and he was getting a standing ovation!

So I figured, 'well, that solves that.'

- Why did you decide to write the book, along with Mike Marino, "The Time of My Life"?

- After Bobby had passed away, I was seeing a shrink.

And the shrink, he wanted me to start writing down a lot of stuff about The Righteous Brothers, or my life.

He said, "just so you can get it out and experience it."

And so, I did.

And then, Mike Marino approached me about doing a book.

I wasn't really up for that, but I figured, 'well, maybe this is a good chance to get all this crap outta my brain.'

You know?

- Yeah.

- And so I did it, and I enjoyed it.

They're a little harder to do, you know, because when you start, when you start doing it and you start pulling out stuff that maybe you've kept a secret for 40 or 50 years, and-?

But if you're gonna do a book, I just feel that you have to let it all out, you know?

I didn't wanna talk much about The Righteous Brothers and I didn't wanna talk much about the women that I've been involved with, and my wives, and stuff.

I just wanted to mainly tell these stories, you know?

So I won't say it was great to do, but it was interesting to do, and it did help me mentally a lot to discuss, to go back, and discuss these things.

- Very good.

Now, you have an audience that when you go to perform, and you and Bucky go to perform, the audience is expecting those hits, and you have so many hits, right?

And they're gonna hope that you hit every one of those hits.

But, as a performer, what other songs do you sprinkle in that aren't the, you know, the six or eight or nine go-tos?

What other songs do you like to sprinkle in?

- We do a gospel song in the show, which in reality, Bobby and I recorded that song, "Great Gettin' Up Mornin'".

And actually, everything-?

I think all except Bucky at the end of the show, I make him do "Nessun Dorma."

- Oh.

- That was, you know, by Pavarotti, and he just kills it.

So that, and I do a blues song in the show that I recorded.

I wrote the song and recorded it.

Finally did a blues album because I really consider myself a blues singer who got lucky with some beautiful songs.

So, that's about it.

I mean, we've really tried to stay where it's a real Righteous Brothers show, you know?

And we still, even at that, and we do about an hour and a half, and there's still-- people will say, Well, why didn't you do "See That Girl" or why didn't you do, you know, this and that, and you just-- you can't get to.

- Can't do'em all.

You can't just get to all of them, can you?

You must really love performing because I know your birthday's coming up in September and you're probably 80-ish, right?

- (chuckles) 82.

I'll be 82.

- So, this just must be something you absolutely love and you still sound good, so you get to go out there.

But it is draining, right?

An hour and a half on stage, and the days leading up to it, and the rehearsal, and the sound checks, and it's a lot!

- Yeah.

It really is a lot.

And what's tough is the traveling, and it's even starting to get tougher, you know- - Right.

- in the last, you know, couple of years or whatever.

So, going on stage, I tell people, "You don't pay me to sing; you pay me to travel!"

(both chuckle) It's pretty tough, you know, especially if you're going from California to the East Coast.

Well?

There's the time difference; there's a climate difference.

It's not easy.

So, you have to kind of do whatever you can to stay on your feet.

Because, you're right: I love to perform!

I love to go on stage, and I love that the audiences are there to hear those songs.

So, you know, I'm not a big drinker.

I'll drink a couple of glasses of wine at dinner.

Never did drugs.

Smoked marijuana for three months in 1970.

It was the best sleep I ever got!

(chuckles) And then that's about it, and mainly because I was very busy.

I was producing all the albums for The Righteous Brothers, and some of the singles.

I did "Unchained Melody" and "Soul and Inspiration."

And when young kids, wanna pick my brain about getting in the business, I said, "Man, you know?

"If you love it, do it, "but if you don't love it-- if you're into it "because you think you're gonna get a lot of girls "and make a lot of money, "that isn't gonna fly, and the audience is gonna realize that."

You really have to love doing it, and it's so great right now.

Well, Bobby and I had a ball on stage and Bucky and I just have a ball.

We have the same sense of humor.

- Couple of your songs kind of gotta reboot from the movies with-- your hits were in '65 and '66, but then "Top Gun" with "Lovin' Feelin'" in '86, "Dirty Dancing," "Time of My Life" in '87, "Ghost," "Unchained Melody" in '90.

So, you kind of have, or what I would think, a couple of generations of audiences, right?

Because their parents may have heard it in the '60s, their children, or maybe their grandchildren, are hearing it or seeing it later.

So, tell me a little bit about, you know, the music kind of giving, or those movies giving you a reboot for some of your music.

- Yeah.

It was, I mean, it was unbelievable.

I mean, if you put it in a movie, you would say, 'well, how corny is that?'

Each year, I think it was, I mean, with "Top Gun" and then "Dirty Dancing," and then "Ghost."

Yeah, we were back bigger, bigger than ever.

And probably having more fun because now we didn't have to worry about the business side.

You know, when we were young and hit it real big with "Lovin' Feelin'", there's a lot of business that goes along with it that, you know, takes up a lot of your time and energy.

And so when this happened, yeah, you're right: it was a reboot.

We were bigger, bigger than ever.

And, we were now men with families and stuff, and it was just a different, totally different vibe for Bobby and I.

But, man!

And the funny thing is, is a lot of kids that would go see these movies would come back to their parents and say, "Boy, you oughta hear this new group, The Righteous Brothers!"

(both laugh) because they saw the movie!

They say, "Honey, they're the reason you're here!"

(laughter) - Oh, that's funny!

You have also performed with your daughter, McKenna.

Tell me about that experience.

- Well, it's the best.

I mean, to be able to travel and work, you know, and have her come down and do, "I've Had the Time of My Life" with me, it's a blessing.

I mean, to be around your children, and she's a great singer, so it's not just something I want to get away with.

She really enhances the show and she's a great kid.

Well, she's 35.

She wouldn't want me to call her "kid!"

Very proud of her, and it's just a blessing to be out on the road, with and performing with my daughter.

- So, COVID hit, as we all know, and performers and artists weren't performing for a while.

- It's unbelievable.

I mean, to be thrown off stage (Lillian chuckles) for two years was tough.

I mean, it's really tough.

I lost my wife about two years ago, right when the pandemic kind of hit, and a lot of other things happened, but mainly my wife passing away.

And the real remedy for me with pain is to go on stage, because that is literally where you can get lost and the audiences fill you with so much love and energy, that it's just the best thing in the world.

So, not to be able to do that for two years was real punishment.

Boy, I mean, a real punishment for all the artists, you know, that we had to go through, because that's what we do, that's who we are.

And I know it sounds corny, but that's-- you take music away from me, you don't have much to talk about!

(chuckles) - Well, I don't think it sounds corny.

I think it sounds dedicated to an art that you love.

So, Bill, thank you so much for your time.

- And, let me apologize for that show in San Bernardino.

They had a big mix-up with sound, and this and that.

- So, you remember the night, huh?

- Oh, man!

Right here.

It'll never leave.

And by the time we went on, I know you guys, the audience, had to be sitting there like an hour and a half, but there was no sound system that was working.

And, thank God our sound guy put it together.

But, so- - Can I just say it was worth it?

- Oh, thank you!

God bless you for that.

- Yeah, it was worth it, and my husband and I both thoroughly enjoyed it just because the music is so good.

And like I said, having Bucky there, at first, I was kind of a naysayer till he sang this first note, and then I was-- it didn't need any more explanation.

He was just perfect.

- Oh, thank you.

And, I'll tell Bucky, you said that.

- Bill Medley, it's been a pleasure speaking with you.

I'm so glad we had this opportunity and I'm even more thrilled that the music of The Righteous Brothers lives on.

This program was originally produced for 91.9 KVCR-Radio.

(upbeat music) ♪ Yeah, the simple things in life ♪