Steve Allen Interview by Monk Rowe - 2/15/1999 - Los Angeles, CA

[@johnmitchelljr]

Steve Allen is a favorite. Why? Because I love Greatness. Thank you for sharing.

[@CuppaTeaandaSliceoCake]

Absolutely wonderful ... Steve Allen is legendary in every aspect. Thank you very much indeed.

[@filliusjazzarchive]

Couldn't agree more! That was a memorable session. Monk

[@thomasleary2814]

Steve was always one of my favorites. I could be thoroughly entertained listening to him speak for hours on a multitude of subjects. He was a true renaissance man and a national treasure who is sorely missed.

[@Reb4ful]

I love Steve Allen...this interview should be declared a national archival treasure, which it is to me. Thank you for sharing it.

[@filliusjazzarchive]

Thank you Ruth, that is a high compliment. It was a memorable experience conversing with Mr. Allen. Monk

[@Grundig305]

Steve Allen was the best. Highly literate and funny as well.

[@victorshrader3806]

Steve Allen was a great story teller.

[@James523001]

Wonderful interview. One of the most brilliant figures in American music and entertainment generally. Always fun, insightful, enlightening. It's great to hear him talk at length, tell stories, and laugh. He was unique and is missed.

[@82Abn319]

Steve was always a favorite of mine and I was privileged to attend a presentation at the East Los Angeles Colledge in 1962 when he spoke of the "Dumbing Down Of America". How accurate was his insight some 60+ years ago? Those who know of him and have benefited from his unlimited talents are indeed fortunate.

[@davidcisco4036]

I always enjoy listening to Steve Allen talk, no matter the subject.

[@csomething2701]

Steve Allen true, was not a pretty man BUT very handsome, great personality and humor!! So happy to have stumbled on this interview!

[@fcontitwo]

‘✨🎶🎭 ‘Steve Allen’ -A true American 🇺🇸 Legend 🎶✨🏆🙏🏼

[@irenegewinner8193]

I was in line at Barns and Noble in Phoenix to have Steve sign my video tape of his show shortly after this interview and before his death. Thank you, Steve, for sharing your talent with us. RIP.

[@luishumbertovega3900]

That man was a Great Artist, in the whole, entire sense of that word; funny, talented, witty, likeable, humble, God Bless Steve Allen, from an admirer in San Juan PR.

[@clearfield2009]

I love this man.

[@1Cruzer4u]

American Cinema Legend Steve Allen always made me laugh. What an amazing life...

[@filliusjazzarchive]

Thanks for the comment. I recall feeling anxious about this one, but he was a gentleman as well as a terrific storyteller. Monk

[@Tunz909]

GREAT interview!! Monk ALLOWS Steve to talk and go into details!! Modern interviewers need to take notes, cause they do NOT!!!!

[@jubalcalif9100]

Well said and well put ! Mr Rowe is a truly gifted interviewer !

[@mikestirewalt5193]

He was an American treasure. I'm grateful to have been young when there were Steve Allen's on the planet.

[@jamesf1525]

One of my all-time favorite entertainers. He mastered comedy and music & authored many books. Loved his sense of humor and miss his wit. The current generation of night time TV hosts are half that. Oh, and he wrote 3000 tunes! I could listen to hours of this.

[@paulrodberg]

he said 8000

[@jimflys2]

This was perhaps one of the most insightful and intelligent interviews I have heard. What amazing history you have preserved Monk. A real treasure. Kudos to you. Steve puts some thoughts I have had into better understanding. Albeit a bit wordy. I still admire his absolute authority on the subjects presented here.

[@rogerparis]

The great Steve Allen, my childhood hero.

[@amtrakatsfnyc]

Thank you for sharing this most informative interview with one of the most intelligent people that have worked in show business. He was my favorite musician and comedian from the mid 50's [that is when I discovered him] and must say that the late night program that he did for Westinghouse Broadcasting was by far the best display of original clean entertainment that I have ever seen. He also was the executive producer of Jazz Scene USA [hosted by Oscar Brown, Jr.] which promoted many jazz musicians and their unique talents. I doubt if we will ever see his equal.

[@jamesf1525]

One of the most talented people of all time and he speaks & relates so easily to listeners. One of a short list of stars I'd like to have dinner with. Only saw him once, in the 1990's, I believe, in his "traveling show" with Louis Nye, Tom Poston, Bill Dana. Nicely done, Monk.

[@filliusjazzarchive]

Thanks James, that was a memorable moment. Monk

[@jubalcalif9100]

Blimey ! Another wonderful interview ! Thank you so much for sharing with us to enjoy ! :-)

[@photomanwilliams4147]

This is why I have such respect for Steve Allen. I grew up in the L.A.area in the 60's and 70's. I often attended talk , game, and variety shows which had an audience. I learn quickly not all show host treated the people in the studio audience the same. Most "acted" while the camera was on like they cared, but most ignored and even seem to avoid total contact while off the air. Not Steve Allen, he came out 15 min. before the show started taping, spent time after the show taped and thanked us for being there, and taking our time to be there. I remember one show there was a technical problem shutting down production for half an hour. Durning that time, Steve went to his piano and entertained the studio audience. No other show host came close to the kindness of Mr. Allen, and trust me, I was a member of an audience, scores of them, Please note, many East Coast shows would do an "on location" taping in L.A.so Steve being ranked #1 by me covers just about all who host shows.

[@filliusjazzarchive]

Thanks for this upbeat, inside story. I am very glad to know this. Monk

[@robertcox4546]

Great interview! I was very small when Steve had the Tonight Show. But I loved watching it with my father (who loved all of Steve's talents) when he would allow me to stay up late.

[@ericdreizen1463]

This interview is dated 2/15/1999. Steve Allen doesn't look "old" at all here. Yet he only had a few more months to live. An American classic & an original!

[@filliusjazzarchive]

Steve's interview was unique. He looked through the camera before filming began at the shot the cameraman was getting and instructed him, "don't get any closer than this." Steve knew what he wanted. Of course this interview was challenging for me, but I'm pleased at how it turned out. Lucky we obtained it when we did, such a sad ending.

[@RonGerstein]

He died as a result of an unique automobile accident: his car was hit by a car backing out of a house's driveway, but he was first shaken up, visited his son, took a nap, and died of internal bleeding from that earlier collision.

[@barbararey4337]

Excellent questions wonderful, thank you.

[@tonygumbrell22]

Wonderful people, wonderful to hear.

[@freejazzbone]

amazing interview

[@GH-oi2jf]

I had that experience that he mentioned in the first five minutes about hearing American music abroad, but it was only several years ago, after the cold war. I was in Prague, walking across the Charles Bridge, and came upon a small combo playing “Summertime” from Porgy and Bess. Good music has universal appeal.

[@filliusjazzarchive]

Indeed, when we were in Glasgow the local pub band was playing Dion and the Belmonts.

[@stewart437]

Steve is so underrated. An incredibly talented performer

[@hardlines4]

Missed!

[@AmericasChoice]

Great interview, Monk.

[@filliusjazzarchive]

Thanks, I recall being a bit anxious about this one. Monk

[@AmericasChoice]

@@filliusjazzarchive I saw below you said that, was it because Allen was a difficult person or because you were just nervous about interviewing a person with so much experience and accomplishments?

[@filliusjazzarchive]

The latter, he was quite pleasant. But I had not spoken to him at all before hand, even by telephone, only with "his people" so that added a layer of uncertainty.

[@AmericasChoice]

@@filliusjazzarchive Interesting. I have seen a number of SA interviews, and he would get a bit testy about questions related to the Tonight Show, and the fact people copied his routines and and skits without affirmation or even remuneration due to copyright. I think he was happy to discuss music with you, it was his first love. He gave you more than one compliment on your questions.

[@jaimejaimeChannel]

So interesting - the interviewer is quiet, which is good.

[@josephososkie3029]

44:30. Are You being Served…I’m wracking my brain where have I heard that melody before and it was on that British comedy. Amazing how music permeates the world.

[@johnnyj0104]

What a guy! 😎

[@marilyntape508]

I love Bert😊❤️🇦🇺

[@stjudeprayer7]

nice to have listen to Mr allen riff on all things American. And more than 26 minutes... most talks go on for a fourth as much time as this. He is so youthful for 77. A da__ accident is what killed him the next year. Was he not rich enough to have a driver? Driving himself someone bumped his car. took hours, maybe a whole day, but he died. With all kinds of stuff yet to tell and teach yet

[@thegreatdominion949]

Steve is mistaken about Benny Goodman having a son named Benjie. Benjie was his second daughter (he only had daughters). The other tune employing one of his daughter's names in the title was "Rachel's Dream".

[@filliusjazzarchive]

Thanks for the clarification.

[@geekay1349]

Love Steverino! He knows his music as he had guests like Chet Baker on his show back in the day.Just don't mention Led Zepplin!

[@Grundig305]

He had Frank Zappa on before he was a name

[@geraldnichols2722]

What I am most indebted to Steve Allen for is his song "Impossible" which I love to hear and to play. It is not to be confused with another song by the same name notably rellcorded by Perry Como; but there is a wonderful recording of Steve's done by Nat "King" Cole. I also recall a great album Steve did on piano that introduced me to trombonist Urbie Green. I since lost that one, too bad!

[@juliestrom412]

He was the real class 🌌

[@n.larson5994]

Great and important interview, Monk. One slight criticism about Steve, however. And with all due respect to his achievements and musicianship, his air of authority sometimes seems a little over the top. But Steve is great, and does make some important observations. And your interview is deft and perfectly restrained. A brilliant interview, in fact.

[@filliusjazzarchive]

Yes, we can safely say the Steve Allen had his likes and dislikes firmly in place.

[@n.larson5994]

And Steve has an air only appropriate for his intelligence. A genuinely nice man, with so many interesting things to say. And I did go back and listen to that Bob Crosby record on South Rampart Street. So glad that Steve pointed it out, because it is.a compositional and orchestral masterpiece. When you’re right, you’re right!

[@dhpbear2]

1:01:05 - Interesting, many musicians today consider the 6th chord to be 'square' :)

[@filliusjazzarchive]

Yes indeed, now we get the 6th by including the 9th and 11th and turning it into a 13th!

[@SeanStanley1986]

Good Interview but I believe Steve is mistaken. Jelly Roll and W.C. Handy were using the "6th" or "13th" as early as 1917 and prior. Scott Joplin as well 1899. Or am I misinterpreting?

[@filliusjazzarchive]

Yes, I agree there would have been instances of composers/arrangers using those added harmonies, earlier than the swing era, especially the 6th. I think the larger instrumentation that the '30s swing bands employed was part of what Steve was describing, although he did not specifically say that. Thanks for the comment.

[@SeanStanley1986]

Fillius Jazz Archive at Hamilton College thank you for your reply.

[@SeanStanley1986]

And thank you for sharing all of these amazing videos. Very informative.

[@oswaldomilano3848]

he could do the whole interview all by himself. he predicted his own death.in a funny way he said goodbye.dorothy on what s my line called ,him a humourist, he was a genious!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[@BGTuyau]

Scott Hamilton! Saw him in Barcelona recently ... . | Meanwhile, who is the Steve Allen of today? Does one even exist?

[@doctorcraptonicus7941]

1:12:10 - Greatest way to end an interview "Oh, here comes death now..."

[@filliusjazzarchive]

Yes, I have replayed that moment a number of times, speculating on how else I could have responded. Matching wits with Steve Allen was a challenge. Sobering to realize that he died unexpectedly a year and a half later. Monk

[@DreamCather147]

Always interesting. "All seriousness aside."

[@muzician338]

I heard Doc Severinsen talk about Benny Goodman, echoing what Steve says here he said he witnessed Benny forget his own wife's name, said Benny referred to her as "Pops". Curious that as knowledgeable as Steve was about the nuts and bolts of music that he never learned to read conventional music notation.

[@OsbornTramain]

He would be about 102 if he was still alive....Sadly, he died from complications of being in an automobile accident....I know it might sound ridiculous to say that he was cut off in his prime at 78, but seeing how cognitive he was for his age, it's not hard to believe that he would have continued to do great things well into the future years.....had the accident not occurred.

[@filliusjazzarchive]

I agree, it was a sad day when he passed.

[@tested123]

like don rickles. seems he would have been sharp to the end

[@kennithumperovitch1312]

They made up the 6th note. I have made up at least 5 more on my Harmonica.

[@TheJPCatholic]

I agree with Steve, for the most part. Where I’d digress is expand the Golden Age at least to 1960, to include such writers as Carolyn Leigh and Cy Coleman, Sammy Cahn and Jule Styne, Betty Comden and Adolph Green. Songwriters like Paul Williams and Alan and Marilyn Bergman, Burt Bacharach and Hal David were just getting started and became wildly successful through the late 60’s and early 70’s. As Steve said, there was an overall shift in music during that period where melody was more important than the lyrics. Lyrics also were summed down (as Steve pointed out). Am I saying McCartney and Lennon weren’t important? Not at all because they changed the industry, BUT! The standards have an overall mysterious magnetism that cannot be ignored. I would also agree with Steve that from the 80s, we have NOT had the renaissance of songwriters the Golden Age produced (at least, not collectively). Is it a reflection of a lack of creativity? I’d argue that, if certainly not a lack of appreciation; it’s why a lot of the arts have not faired well in the USA in the last several years if not decades. Sure, people still go to shows and we still have people who go to operas and ballet (as do I), but do they equal the attendance of a Lady Gaga or Rolling Stones? Probably not. One quick example, Musicals from the Golden Age (My Fair Lady, Oklahoma, Music Man and even West Side Story), have all been revived recently but have received poor or even terrible reviews. We had these shows revived in the 1990’s and they were wildly successful, but aside from Rent, Wicked and The Producers, Broadway hasn’t really produced shows where people go out singing the songs and leave that upbeat feeling (mind you, you could say the attitude changed on Broadway back in the 70s, but that’s another discussion.) While we in the states have incredible composers like John Williams, Alan Menken or Michael Giacchino, that’s only a handful (and Menken is the only one I mentioned who writes lyrics).

[@thegreathadoken6808]

Died some 18 months later. See you later, Steve.

[@deadfdr]

Steve is the stuff and I don’t mean stuff

[@pgronemeier]

Hmmm...I had no idea he couldn't read music. Interesting.

[@oswaldomilano3848]

the beatles either

[@tested123]

grinch thumbs

[@tested123]

his thumbs are playing away waiting to go home

[@jameschavez6400]

He Doesn’t Like Rock&pop But I’d Bet He Has Dave Brubeck Time Out

[@johnbrennan1094]

Cancel culture had been around for a long time.

[@gopherstate777]

I love Steve Allen and love so much of everything he has done. But he has always been a terrible snob about his era of music. I do not believe he saw much value in modern music after 1960, mostly because popular musical tastes passed him by. Such a shame he saw no value in the Jazz influences of "Chicago" and "Steely" Dan because he parenthetically disliked Rock.

[@stevesheldon8616]

I'm 58, so Steve Allen was before my time. I recently watched a documentary about him and now understand how much of a debt David Letterman owes him. Major respect. But by the time I became aware of him he was out of fashion, just square. And here in this interview he does nothing to change my mind. Mel Torme is the hippest singer in history??? I guess hip has changed. Barbara Streisand is the epitome of talent? OMG, really? The Beatles only made 7 or 8 good songs? OK, I get it. He's just deaf to 99.9 percent of good music made after 1950. That's OK. He's allergic to all but the most tepid of rhythms, while rhythm is where it all starts for me. Great conversationalist, and hip personality-wise, but not in his tastes.

[@warplanner8852]

I realize I am responding to musicians and I am not but it is understandable that Mr Allen was like a fly in aspic musically. After all, Chicago, Steely Dan, the Beatles, Stones, CSN&Y, but not rap or hip hop, etc?

[@ChrisN1344]

Well, I’ve always loved Allen -and actually I agree with Allen 100 percent. And I was born in 1965 - but have a preference for classic jazz, classic soul and classic reggae over rock. I believe that music was, perhaps unintentionally, dumbed down by the Beatles and what followed. So I think he’s absolutely correct. Not to knock people who prefer post-Beatles rock - I mean, to each his or her own - but technically, from a musical standpoint, it’s not on the level of classic jazz or Tin Pan Alley.

[@eddylauterback1312]

Wrote a lot of songs, none sold

[@filliusjazzarchive]

I suppose his "success rate" would be considered low if you are looking at the 8500 songs he is credited with (music or lyrics or both) but I would personally be pleased if this list of artists recorded songs of mine. Monk www.steveallen.com/music/prominent_artists.htm

[@pongespob]

Steve was great but I think he's off the mark saying Elvis wasn't a talented singer.

[@eldergeektromeo9868]

He was Steve Allen, and not Nostradamus, folks! Although sometimes..........

[@elementguy14DS]

He sounds like Neil degrasse Tyson when you close your eyes.

[@peternagy-im4be]

Steve was running out of time here.

[@HelloooThere]

He wasn’t cool with Elvis

[@MrWmburr7]

Jazz . . . . yuck!

[@danacoleman4007]

please take a listen to a song called in the mood by the Glenn Miller orchestra. it might change your mind.

[@joealexandra7185]

Couldn't agree more. Next to abstract expressionism, I hate jazz the most.

[@sclogse1]

@@joealexandra7185 Check out Paul Horn's Something Blue.

[@ChrisN1344]

Jazz is amazing … and there’s something new to discover in its history every day. To each their own. But your “yuck” sentiment is exactly how I feel about rock or rap. On a technical level, honestly, there’s just no comparison- regardless of your preference. That may sound snobbish - but it is what it is.