By Paul Freeman [October 2012 Interview]

Having led NBC’s “The Tonight Show” orchestra for 25 years, trumpeter Doc Severinsen is a pop culture icon.

In 1992, after 30 years of hosting, Johnny Carson stepped down as host. Twenty years later, “Tonight Show” fans still fondly remember Severinsen and now have a chance to share in his latest musical endeavor, The San Miguel 5. In this group - teamed with virtuoso classical guitarist Gil Gutierrez, Grammy-winning violinist Charlie Bisharat, percussionist Jimmy Branly and bassist Kevin Thomas - Severinsen explores diverse musical styles, including Latin, Spanish and Gypsy jazz forms, as well as American classics.

With The San Miguel 5, Severinsen has returned to the road. Their swing through California comes to Saratoga’s Montalvo Arts Center October 17 [$39-$48; 408-961-5858, montalvoarts.org], followed by Yoshi’s, Oakland, the 19th-21st [$20-$60; 510-238-9200; www.yoshis.com].

As a child, Severinsen, an Arlington, Oregon native, wanted to play the trombone, but the local music store had only a trumpet. At age seven, he quickly become proficient enough on that instrument to join the high school band. At 12, Severinsen won the Music Educator’s National Contest. As a teen, he toured with an orchestra. After his U.S. Army service, Severinsen’s career rushed forward.

He toured with Tommy Dorsey, Charlie Barnet and Benny Goodman. Eventually, Severinsen would rank among the most famous big band leaders. But first he played trumpet for bandleader Skitch Henderson on “The Tonight Show.” Severinsen began in 1952, when Steve Allen was hosting.

Carson took over the show in 1962 and Severinsen took the orchestra’s reins five years later. In addition to his duties as music director, Severinsen also participated in many of Carson’s comedy bits. He and Ed McMahon were featured in the “Stump The Band” segments. When McMahon had a night off, the trumpeter took the announcer’s seat on the couch.

Severinsen became renowned for his flamboyant outfits. And the wildly colorful clothing provided Carson with plenty of comic fodder. Severinsen has enduring respect for his former boss.

When ‘The Tonight Show’ finally came to an end after all those years, Severinsen had to adjust. He focused on concerts. He has conducted and recorded with Pops Orchestras. His lengthy list of albums includes several with the Tonight Show Band. He also experimented with pop-rock-electronic projects. In the ‘70s, he teamed with Henry Mancini for two LPs of standards.

Now based in Maryville , Tennessee, Severinsen is working on a new album with The San Miguel 5. At 84, he still hits the high notes.

PCC enjoyed chatting with the affable Doc Severinsen. And now, heeeeeeeeere’s Doc!

POP CULTURE CLASSICS:
You had retired to Mexico, when you heard Gil Gutierrez and his band?

DOC SEVERINSEN:
Yeah. I was on a plane down there and I reassured my wife, ‘Yeah, I’m retiring, but I still have to play the trumpet every day. And the one thing I’d like to find is guys I can play with, just some jazz type of thing. I don’t even know what, but just something a little different.’ Lo and behold, I got to Mexico, went out to dinner a couple nights later and went into this Italian restaurant and I heard the guys playing and I thought, ‘This might be just what I was looking for.’ And I’ve been with them ever since.

PCC:
What was about that music that sparked your interest?

SEVERINSEN:
It’s different. It’s a mixture of things. But it doesn’t come out sounding like a hodgepodge. First of all, the instrumentation is unusual in that we have a violin, guitar and trumpet, along with a Latin percussionist and a bass player. Each voice is very individual and somehow, it all comes together.

PCC:
Have you always been fascinated with a wide variety of musical styles?

SEVERINSEN:
Yes, I’ve always said I’m a structured schizophrenic.

PCC:
Returning to the road, has that been invigorating? Was that something you had missed?

SEVERINSEN:
Yeah, I enjoy it. Oh, yeah. And when I go out with these guys, on a tour like we’re going to be on, when it’s over, everybody says, ‘Ohhhhh, I don’t want to go home!’

PCC:
In the early days, touring with Tommy Dorsey, Charlie Barnet and Benny Goodman, what was the experience like with each of those legends?

SEVERINSEN:
Well, being a child of the big band era, it couldn’t have been better for me. It was thrilling to play with those bands.

PCC:
Was it like an education, too?

SEVERINSEN:
Oh, yeah. Especially on Charlie Barnet’s band. Charlie Barnet’s band was a mixed-race band. And this was before integration became the law. And, boy, I’m telling you, we ran into some strange, bad situations. But the music was always there. Of course, Charlie had, basically, a Duke Ellington style of orchestra. And I learned a lot from that.

And then, on Tommy’s band, I’m sitting there every night, about three feet away from the most perfect brass embouchure I’ve ever seen in my life. I mean, over the period of time I played with him, I never heard him miss a note. Not a note. Not once.

PCC:
And Benny Goodman?

SEVERINSEN:
Well, Benny was crazy. So it’s hard to tell you much about that [chuckles].

PCC:
Were you always trying to pick up pointers about leading a band? Was being a bandleader in your mind?

SEVERINSEN:
Well, those things just kind of happened, almost by chance. But, when I when I was a little kid, I thought, ‘I want to be a bandleader, when I grow up.’ It’s funny. I had the idea early on, but then, as I got into the business, I was just satisfied to be making a living. And then, one thing led to another. Skitch decided he needed to take off from ‘The Tonight Show.’ He was playing with a symphony orchestra. And he said, ‘You’re taking over the band.’ I said, ‘What?!!’ He was already out the door. So I said, ‘Well, I guess I better figure out what I’m doing here.’

PCC:
Did you have a lot of trepidation at that point? Or you knew you were ready?

SEVERINSEN:
I was ready and willing. But I didn’t know if I had everything that I needed. But I’d been on the show a long time. All I needed to do was just do what had been done before and don’t make too many mistakes.

PCC:
When you started, Steve Allen was hosting?

SEVERINSEN:
Oh, yeah. That was the beginning of it. I was on ‘The Tonight Show’ or the forerunner of ‘The Tonight Show,’ when it was a local program in New York City.

PCC:
And what were your impressions of Steve Allen?

SEVERINSEN:
It was fun to work with Steve. The staff, the producers, the director, the whole thing was like an experiment. If anything went wrong, we just laughed about it. There were nights on the Steve Allen show where we’d run out of programming material. They’d just open the stage door to 46th Street and walk out there with a camera and interview passersby.

PCC:
Working with Skitch, what was he like as a bandleader?

SEVERINSEN:
Skitch? He was great.

PCC:
Over the course of all those years with ‘The Tonight Show,’ was that just a dream gig? Or did you sometimes wish you had more time to pursue your own musical ventures?

SEVERINSEN:
No, no. [Chuckles] I thank my lucky stars every single day for the years I was there.

PCC:
You got to back so many diverse guest artists. Any that particularly thrilled you, collaborating with them on the show?

SEVERINSEN:
I’m telling you, just standing up in front of that band was good enough in itself. It was quite a collection of great players.... and unusual individuals [Laughs].

PCC:
Were you conscious of having a platform for keeping big band music alive and in the public eye?

SEVERINSEN:
Nah, we didn’t think about that. We just enjoyed playing and we happened to have a big band. As it turned out, it was the last big band in the history of American television.

PCC:
What about participating in the comedy stuff? Did that come naturally to you?

SEVERINSEN:
Well, yeah. I was always a kind of a character. [Chuckles] You know, I was performing at home all by myself and thought nothing of it.

PCC:
And the challenge of ‘Stump The Band,’ was that something you enjoyed?

SEVERINSEN:
Yeah, well, again, this happened because one night, they came up short, as far as how much stuff they had on the show. So, since Johnny was so great, going back to ‘Who Do You Trust,’ the show where he was the host of a quiz show, he was just fantastic with the audience, so somebody said, ‘Well, Johnny, just take the mic and go up and talk to the people.’ So he did.

And, I don’t know, I guess one night, he said, ‘Do you have a favorite song you’d like to hear?’ And some guy came up with some nutty song like ‘Barney Google’ or something like that. And that probably started it.

PCC:
And you handled it so well. A lot of fun. What about the flamboyant clothes? How did that become a trademark?

SEVERINSEN:
Well, I had to find something different to wear, because traditionally, the orchestra leader would wear something different than guys in the band. About this time, you had The Beatles, the clothing revolution and the unrest of campuses, the long hair came in, the whole nine yards... and I was just right there with it. It suited me politically and personally and every other way.

PCC:
And Johnny seemed to enjoy having the opportunity to make wisecracks about your outfits.

SEVERINSEN:
Yeah, well, it became a little something for him.

PCC:
What was your take on the rock music that was dominating the charts in those days?

SEVERINSEN:
Oh, I loved it. I’ll never forget, the first time I heard Elvis Presley. I had worked with Charlie Barnet’s band extensively at the Apollo Theatre in Harlem. So out comes Elvis Presley and I said, ‘Well, I know exactly what this guy’s trying to do. He’s just not real great at it yet.’ He didn’t do anything that I didn’t hear the black guys do at the Apollo Theatre.

That’s where it all came from. And if you listen carefully to the rock ‘n’ roll records, even to this day, it doesn’t really get started till you hear a blues lick. It’s like they invented the blues. My ass they invented the blues! The blues was already there.

PCC:
When you were at the Apollo, what was the reception like, being one of the first interracial bands?

SEVERINSEN:
Well, nobody thought anything about it. We were totally accepted. You know, Charlie played there over the years. And nobody thought anything about it. Oh, I suppose at some level. But, when you’re right in it like that, you don’t think too much about it, till something mean happens. And that’s not so good.

PCC:
Over the years at ‘Tonight,’ what kind of bond grew between you and Johnny?

SEVERINSEN:
Well, you couldn’t be working on that show, if you didn’t get along with the boss [chuckles]. And that was easy. He used to go out and do concerts on the road and before I was even the leader, he would take me out to play the trumpet and pick up a band and make some music. And we had a dance team, and Phyllis McGuire would sing. And we had a little show we did.

PCC:
Must have had a lot of adventures out there on the road.

SEVERINSEN:
Oh, yeah.

PCC:
And you and Ed, also a strong bond over the years?

SEVERINSEN:
Oh, yeah. Sure.

PCC:
What do you think it was about Johnny that made him so unique among talk show hosts?

SEVERINSEN:
Well, he had tons of class. And he also majored in logic in college. And he could take any side of a conversation and turn it all around his way. But he just knew how to ask the questions and then listen to what they said back. And go on from there. And he’s the only guy I’ve ever met in my life who could write script, in his head, while he was talking. He was composing as he was performing. Pretty amazing.

PCC:
Always one step ahead?

SEVERINSEN:
Yeah. Oh, yeah.

PCC:
Any talk show hosts today who impress you?

SEVERINSEN:
None that I would compare to Johnny. Nor would they want to be. I’ve always kind of liked Letterman. I like him as a person. And I think he does a really, really good job.

PCC:
He should have been the ‘Tonight Show’ host to follow Johnny.

SEVERINSEN:
Oh, well, who knows about that?

PCC:
When ‘The Tonight Show’ finally came to an end after all those years, was that a difficult time for you? Or did you welcome the opportunity to explore new things?

SEVERINSEN:
It was both. I welcomed the opportunity to go back to doing just concerts. But, for about six months, my body was all tuned in to, ‘Well, this is about time to go on the air.’ And all of a sudden, no, you’re not on the air anymore. And I thought, ‘Ah, in six months, no person will ever know I was there.’ And it didn’t turn out that way at all.

PCC:
Over the course of those years, what were the greatest challenges and greatest rewards of doing that show?

SEVERINSEN:
Well, just being there was the reward. It enabled me to go out and have recognition and do a lot of things, as a solo performer, that I wanted to do. And people would trust me, because they’d think, ‘Well, if he’s on Johnny’s show, he must be okay.’

PCC:
And there were so many facets to your job on the show, what was the most challenging?

SEVERINSEN:
Well, the first time they told me, ‘Ed’s not going to be here tonight. You’re going to be the announcer.’ [Chuckles] That was interesting. That was a hell of a challenge.

And then the night I was filling in for Ed, one of the first times he was away, they decided to do Carnak. I said, ‘What?!!!’ ‘Don’t f--k it up!’ That was Freddy De Cordova’s advice [‘Tonight Show’ producer] [Laughs]. But it turned out okay, I guess.

PCC:
Once you were out performing, was it particularly fun to conduct the pops orchestras?

SEVERINSEN:
Oh, yeah. I did that for many years. And I still do it... on rare occasions. I do a Christmas show every year in Minneapolis with the orchestra up there. I’m still connected with that orchestra to some degree.

PCC:
You play a lot of different trumpets. Does each have its own personality?

SEVERINSEN:
Yeah, they do have. Some I like, some I don’t. [Laughs]

PCC:
And each one might be right for a different type of material?

SEVERINSEN:
Yeah, that’s true. It’d be great, if they could make a trumpet that works for everything. [Brass instrument manufacturer S.E. Shires Company has a new Doc Severinsen model trumpet, Destino Generation 3]

PCC:
Are you involved in raising horses?

SEVERINSEN:
No, not directly. But horses run deep in my family. And so there’s always something going on with horses.

PCC:
Your granddaughter, Blaire, is a singer-songwriter?

SEVERINSEN:
Yeah, a very good composer and performer. She sings great.

PCC:
Did you make a point of the kids and grandkids being exposed to music?

SEVERINSEN:
Oh, no question about that. My son-in-law and my daughter, they both love music. So they saw to it the kids got piano lessons. They actually did the juries at Carnegie Hall. They got really good on the piano. And my grandson has got a degree from Princeton in Architecture. And now he’s out playing with rock groups and appears with his sister. If you get a chance, look on the computer and look up Blaire Reinhard [blaireband.com]. And you’ll see what I’m talking about.

PCC:
With all that you’ve accomplished, still any unfulfilled goals?

SEVERINSEN:
Well, if you’re a trumpet player, you always have that.

PCC:
How so?

SEVERINSEN:
Well, each day is like starting your career over again. ‘Let’s see now, where do I put this thing on my face? How do I do this?’ If you take it too much for granted, you wind up in trouble.

PCC:
Do you have to concentrate on staying in physical shape, so you can still hit the high notes?

SEVERINSEN:
Absolutely. That’s not how you hit high notes, but you cannot perform on a trumpet, at an older age, if you aren’t in that gym constantly.

PCC:
So what is the key to reaching the high notes?

SEVERINSEN:
Well, that would take forever and sound like gibberish. Like my dogs barking in the background. I’m curious about what they’re barking at. We live out in the country.

PCC:
Where are you based now?

SEVERINSEN:
Maryville, Tennessee. It’s kinda nice. We’ve got real nice neighbors.

PCC:
Are you married these days?

SEVERINSEN:
Not so’s you’d notice it.

PCC:
[Laughs] Do you have recording plans with The San Miguel 5?

SEVERINSEN:
Oh, yeah. We’ve got a quite a few albums out. Only one that I was on the whole thing. And we are working on an album right now.

PCC:
Does music keep you young?

SEVERINSEN:
Well, somethin’s doin’ some good!

PCC:
And it might as well be music.

SEVERINSEN:
Might as well.

PCC:
Thank you for the time. I really enjoyed talking with you.

SEVERINSEN:
So did I. It was a nice conversation. So thank you for the conversation.

For all the latest on Doc, visit www.docseverinsen.com.