Working in a star room, the musicians had the unique opportunity to observe famous singers, comedians, and other entertainers from behind the scenes. These encounters were often treasured memories. There were always those special performers who stood out for the players — not just for their talent or popular appeal, but because they were nice people. “The great percentage of acts I worked with, and I worked with just about all of them, were very good to me and the musicians,” recalled Johnny Haig.

Frank Sinatra first performed in Las Vegas at the Desert Inn in 1951. Later, Sinatra performed twice nightly at the Sands, which opened in 1952. “Anytime he had a suggestion for the band, you listened, because he knew. He grew up in bands,” said Hannah. Throughout the years, musicians continued to praise Sinatra. Violinist Patricia (Saarinen) Harrell said, “Frank Sinatra could hear anything that was wrong. He would have been a great educator.”

Horn player Beth Lano remarked, “Obviously, I loved playing for Frank Sinatra. It was my dream to play for him.” Violinist Rebecca Ramsey also said that Sinatra’s show was her favorite. “He was a great musician, and it was always a special, electric feeling in the air whenever he would walk into the room and you really felt like you were in the center of the musical universe whenever he was there. He knew every part of the music, every part of his arrangements. He was always very gentlemanly and respectful.”

Added musician Sharon Street-Caldwell, “Sinatra liked to have a full 70-piece orchestra. I’ve never felt such charisma in my entire life as from this man. During rehearsal, he would just stand there and he was listening to every single person. He could tell who was in tune. [His show was] the most amazing show I think I’ve ever played, I could see what all the hype was about.” Haig, who generally liked all the stars, said that Sinatra in particular was “a pleasure to work for.” Even the musicians who never played for him remembered that Sinatra was always good to the band.

Another favorite from the 1950s and later was Sammy Davis Jr. “He was the guy who would send champagne to other acts on opening night, or invite a group of dancers out for Chinese food or for screening 35-mm prints of movies in his hotel suite,” said Jerry Kurland, a Las Vegas tap dancer. “He cared for all the show kids, all of us who worked hard.”

Patricia Harrell said, “We loved Sammy [Davis Jr.]. He’d bring in hush puppies; he’d put on music and dance.” Sharon Street-Caldwell remembered Sammy Davis Jr. fondly as well. “Never held himself from the musicians, ever.” He would go to the movies with the musicians sometimes after the show. He was “very personable, very, very nice.”

Dean Martin, Sammy Davis Jr., Frank Sinatra [photo: Bettman/CORBIS]

Liberace was, in 1955, the highest-paid performer in Las Vegas, earning $50,000 a week at the Riviera. By the time he opened the Las Vegas Hilton in 1972, he was getting $300,000 per week. “He was called Mr. Showmanship—but more than that, he was a great friend. He was wonderful,” recalled Debbie Reynolds. The band members remembered him as a warm and witty person. Liberace continued to perform in Las Vegas until 1986. Other performers who appeared in the showrooms during the 1950s included the Andrews Sisters, Maurice Chevalier, Tommy and Jimmy Dorsey, Elvis, Judy Garland, Benny Goodman, Joel Grey, Betty Hutton, Gene Krupa, Don Rickles, Ginger Rogers, Artie Shaw, Dinah Shore, Red Skelton, and Esther Williams, among many others.

When the shows finished up for the night, many of the musicians were not ready to go home because they were still wired from performing. Musicians described how everyone knew one another and that between their shows they would often go to different hotels to visit the other bands in the coffee shops. Sometimes they went to the hotel lounges, and other times they congregated at Chuck’s House of Spirits to drink and socialize. Later, the Musicians Union provided a place for them to meet and play music.

Many of the musicians fondly remembered Chuck’s House of Spirits, a liquor store that stood next to the Desert Inn in the 1950s and 1960s. Chuck’s served as the unofficial gathering place for all of the hotel musicians after work. Bassist Ed Boyer said that he was a regular there. “There was a bench outside where you could sit. And you’d drink your beer, or your bottle of gin… whatever the booze-du-jour was. What was really cool about it was that Chuck would let you run a tab.” Haig added that many musicians would get a bottle and drink it in the parking lot. “Chuck was a nice guy, he knew the musicians; he knew who he could give a bottle to and who not to trust.” Tom McDermott said, “He was amazing! A lot of the guys stayed in front of that place.”

Because there was no place for so many people to sit inside, trombone player Ralph Pressler recalled that musicians often sat on or around their cars. “We sat on the curb, the sidewalk. Most of the stuff happened after work.” He remembered sitting at Chuck’s long enough to see the sun come up. “A lot of glare!” Trumpeter Tom Snelson remarked, “I really wonder how some of us are still alive. After working two production shows a night you weren’t ready to go home, so you ended up hanging out a lot.” Percussionist Howard Agster agreed, “At 4:00 a.m. there would still be about forty black suits outside at Chuck’s House of Spirits.” As Haig recalled, “All musicians would congregate there after the last shows. Even before the shows ended, everybody knew [what] had happened on the Strip that night.”

“Lots of business was done,” said Pressler “We’d sit and talk. We’d find out ahead of time who was available, who was getting fired or leaving. Live bulletin board.” Musician Dave Hawley remembered a story that made it all the way to Miami the same night it happened. More often than not, the stories involved mishaps that occurred during a particular show. It was inevitable that things would not work perfectly all the time, and the stories of the mistakes provided the most interesting gossip. Haig noted, “We would go just to find out what happened that night. It was always something!”

Another popular early hangout was the Silver Slipper. Between shows Bill Trujillo enjoyed going there when he was not headed home to his family because “they had drinks for 35 cents and a good jazz band. It was a big hang.” Another woodwind doubler, Sam Pisciotta, said that his friends would deliberately start false rumors for him to hear at the Silver Slipper bar.

All Las Vegas musicians have their stories and anecdotes, told and retold and embellished over time. These stories become part of the collective repertoire until it is hard to know which version is true. Some players, when recounting a particular event, had trouble remembering whether they were actually there or had just heard about it later.

The hothouse working conditions of the Las Vegas hotel musicians and entertainers provided the perfect medium for gossip to flourish; the more social musicians helped the stories and gossip spread quickly. While the small town days of Las Vegas were numbered and the family atmosphere would not last forever, as Las Vegas headed into the 1960s it was riding high.