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CNN Larry King Weekend
Encore Presentation: Interview With Rosemary Clooney
Aired July 07, 2002 - 21:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
LARRY KING, HOST: Tonight, she was one of America's greatest pop vocalists, and all-around wonderful lady. We'll look back at a very intimate conversation with the late Rosemary Clooney on LARRY KING WEEKEND.
(MUSIC)
KING: Good evening. An American singing legend passed away last weekend: Rosemary Clooney was an amazing talent. She died in her Beverly Hills home after a long battle with lung cancer. She was 74.
Rosie had one of the best voices in the business. Tony Bennett called her "the most beloved singer in America." She also appeared in films like "White Christmas" with Bing Crosby and "Here Come the Girls" with Bob Hope.
Rosemary was my guest in May of 1997. It was a great evening, with lots of song and laughter.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
KING: It's great. Of all years we have done together, interviews, radio, television, to have you finally sing with us.
ROSEMARY CLOONEY, SINGER: I'm really glad. I'm honored. Thank you.
KING: My pleasure. First, tell me about "Mothers and Daughters."
CLOONEY: A new album. And it was hard to choose the songs oddly enough, because I've got two daughters. But I wanted to include other women in family -- my sister in law, and my daughters in law, and my granddaughters.
KING: Debbie.
CLOONEY: Debbie, Boone Ferar, Leiloni Ferar -- Leiloni Ferar sounds like -- she is a darling girl. And there was darling Irish girl whose name is Heather.
KING: Are these songs that deal with mothers and daughter?
CLOONEY: Yes. They can. "Always," and "Hello Young Lovers," and a couple songs that are particular, like "God Bless a Child" that Billie Holiday did.
KING: We will hear all of them. We'll have a song in every segment.
CLOONEY: OK.
KING: And you are going back to "Rainbows" and "Stars" when?
CLOONEY: In May, May 11, I think.
KING: Eleventh and 13 to the 24, Mother's Day performance as well?
CLOONEY: Yes.
KING: That is your room in New York.
CLOONEY: Isn't it? I just love so it much.
KING: When was the rebirth of Rosie? When did you become a phenomena again? Really.
CLOONEY: Come on!
KING: You did.
CLOONEY: No. I became older.
KING: You faded for a while. We didn't hear from you.
CLOONEY: Oh, yes. I was under water for a couple of years, you know. But I tell you what happened.
(LAUGHTER)
But I tell with happened. Bing took me on the last two years that he was touring. And the only two years that he really did very many personal appearances. And he took me with him. That is what did it.
KING: That got you back?
CLOONEY: Sure.
KING: You were in depression, right?
CLOONEY: Yes. Well, I had depression. But I fixed that with a lot of pills. You know, so I had that, which was wonderful. I loved them all.
KING: But you...
(LAUGHTER)
The good side of the picture.
CLOONEY: The good site of it, absolutely. But then he stopped working. And I didn't like that too much.
KING: Has your voice -- everyone talks about your voice. Every review they say the Clooney voice. I mean, it doesn't have the range it had in 1952.
CLOONEY: No.
KING: But yet, it's mellower.
CLOONEY: You know what I did? What you did. I quit smoking.
KING: Yes. The best.
CLOONEY: When you quit smoking, I said to myself, I can't do this. I can never do this. Because I enjoy it too much. I gave up pills. Booze is kind of gone, not altogether, but I can't do this. I can't give up smoking. Well, I did.
KING: How long now?
CLOONEY: Two years.
KING: You don't miss it, do you?
CLOONEY: Yes! Don't you?
KING: No.
CLOONEY: No? Honest to God?
KING: Do not miss it.
CLOONEY: Oh, I do.
KING: Not a second.
CLOONEY: If I see somebody smoke on the street, I slip stream behind them. I do, I do. I do.
KING: Alrigh. Let's start with Rosie and what she does the best. There is. We are going to start with "Hello Young Lovers" which is a song very close to you, is it not?
CLOONEY: Yes. Rodgers and Hammerstein. I think "Hello Young Lovers" kind of speaks to daughters and my family.
KING: This was from "The King and I," right?
CLOONEY: Right.
KING: There is the mike for the singing.
CLOONEY: Yes, thank you.
KING: The group is ready. Gary and Warren and Paul and Chuck, we will introduce them. CLOONEY: OK.
(singing): Hello, young lovers/ wherever you are/ I hope your troubles are few/ all my good wishes go with tonight/ I have been in love like you/ be brave young lovers and follow your star/ be brave, faithful and true/ cling very close to each other tonight/ I have been in love like you/ I know how it feels to have wings on your heels/ fly down the street in a trans/ you fly down the street/ on a chance that you will meet/ and you meet, not really by chance/ don't cry young lovers whatever you do/ don't cry because I'm alone/ all of my memories are happy tonight/ I have had a love of my own/ I have had a love of my own/ I have had a love of my own like your
/Yes!
I know how it feels to have wings on your heels/ to fly down the street in a trance/ you fly down the street/ on a chance that you will meet/ and you meet, not really by chance/ don't cry young lovers whatever you do/ didn't cry, because I'm alone/ all of my memories are happy tonight/ I have had a love of my own/ I have had a love of my own like yours/ I have had a love, of my own
/KING: Yes, she is unbelievable!
CLOONEY: Thank you.
KING: Still love singing, right?
CLOONEY: I love it. I love it better than anytime.
KING: Clooney clan, your nephew.
CLOONEY: What do you think of him?
KING: George Clooney, he is Batman.
CLOONEY: Yes, I know Batman, and...
KING: The whole family...
CLOONEY: Yes, I know.
KING: He is a nice kid.
CLOONEY: I think so, too, don't you?
KING: Yes. This is for singing and that is for talking.
CLOONEY: I beg your pardon. You know, I don't know these things.
KING: Your late sister Betty Clooney, Jose Ferar, your ex- husband passed away. Your talent wreaks everywhere you go, Rosie.
CLOONEY: Yes. My sons are actors. Miguel is really a good actor KING: Is he?
CLOONEY: And my son Raffe has a really good career in voiceovers. And that's the best job in the world.
KING: Do you sing a lot? We know about Rainbows and Stars. Do you tour a lot?
CLOONEY: Yes, I do. I sing with symphonies a lot. And I play the bowl, the Greek here. And there aren't very many little places that you can play like Rainbow and Stars. I love working that room.
KING: That's a singer's room, right?
CLOONEY: Sure, eight years I have been there. I love it.
KING: Do you do "Mombo Italiano?"
CLOONEY: No.
KING: No. Do you do "Come-on-a My House?"
CLOONEY: No!
KING: No. Those are your biggest hit though, right? "Come on a My House." What was your big hit?
CLOONEY: "Hey, There" and "This Old House" back-to-back.
KING: Really?
CLOONEY: Yes.
KING: Was bigger than?
CLOONEY: Yes, yes. It sold two million right away.
KING: You don't come on to my house for one summer in New York.
CLOONEY: That is all you heard.
KING: That is all I heard.
CLOONEY: I lost more friends. I lost more friends because they said, we are sick of the harpsichord from the summer and the beach.
KING: Play us out. We will go to a break.
CLOONEY: OK.
KING: We'll be right back with Rosie Clooney on this special edition of LARRY KING WEEKEND special, because of the lady who is the guest. Music is in every segment. We'll be right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK) KING: OK. An evening with Rosie Clooney tonight on LARRY KING WEEKEND. Hope you enjoying it. We know you are going to enjoy great group behind her. And as we said in the last segment, a surprise, you and Irving Berlin. Go back a bit.
CLOONEY: Yes. "White Christmas."
KING: The movie "White Christmas."
CLOONEY: Yes. The movie "White Christmas."
KING: Everyone loves every Christmas. Danny Kaye.
CLOONEY: Wasn't Danny wonderful? Wasn't Danny wonderful? You know what he did too. He really let Bing run the show which was wonderful for Danny too, because then he could just be funny and break up Bing. He can break up Bing any time.
KING: We loved that movie. We love the whole story, the general and...
CLOONEY: All of it. Don't watch it in July. It works at Christmas.
KING: It was corny, but it was wonderful. Was Berlin there for shooting of that?
CLOONEY: Only for the prerecording. He wanted to see the music was right. So Bing is recording "White Christmas" and Irving is pacing up and down. And he said please go to my dressing room. Bing said, please go to my dressing room and wait for me there. Because it's already a hit. I can't hurt it. I cannot hurt. I cannot hurt your song. It is hit already Irving.
KING: What was Berlin's secrets? Sinatra said simplicity.
CLOONEY: Yes, but deceptively simple, I'd like to say. Because they are not simple to sing. They are probably easier for Frank to sing than for me. But have an awful lot of inner things that go on. And all -- also, they are there are words that you know that he is discarded, discarded. He's picked the perfect word for perfect note. He was something.
KING: You called him one day in later years, because he was out of it most time. He was...
CLOONEY: He used to call me periodically, yes.
KING: He lived to 102 like, right?
CLOONEY: I know.
KING: You called him once. He answered the phone.
CLOONEY: Yes. I said how are you? He said, I'm old!
(LAUGHTER)
KING: I'm old. Here is Rosie Clooney singing Irving Berlin's classic. This is the love song to end all love songs.
CLOONEY: It is my favorite love song.
KING: Rosie.
CLOONEY: I will be loving you, always/ with a love that's true, always/ when the things you have planned/ need a helping hand/ I will understand always, always/ days may not be fair, always/ that's when I will be there, always/ not for just an hour/ and not for just a day/ not for just a year/ but always/ days may not be fair, always/ that's when you'll be there, always/ not for just an hour/ not for just a day/ not for just a year/ but always/ not for just an hour/ and not for just a day/ not for just a year/ but always
/KING: Never get tired of singing Berlin?
CLOONEY: Oh, no. That is -- maybe that is what Frank meant when he said simplicity of it, because they just -- you can do a different take on it every time, you know. It is according to the way that you feel. It plays. It just plays.
KING: Up tempo or...
CLOONEY: You can.
KING: And is that in "Mothers and Daughters?"
CLOONEY: You bet. I dedicated to it one of my twin granddaughters. She was very sweet. She said thank you for dedicating this to me. And I -- I want you to know that I will love you always. You know. This is just very sweet. Don't make me cry. Can't talk about that.
KING: You don't live out here, do you?
CLOONEY: Yes, I do.
KING: I thought you lived in the midwest somewhere.
CLOONEY: I have got a house in Kentucky. I have a part of a house in Kentucky
KING: But you stay in Kentucky a lot, at least I remember.
CLOONEY: Yes, I do, I do. I go back where my brother is. And we live on Ohio River. So I had about a foot and a half of sludge in there. But they are working on it
KING: Then you have a brother, the host on AMC, right?
CLOONEY: That's the same brother. That's Nick.
KING: He goes to Kentucky too? CLOONEY: Yes. sure. He goes to Kentucky. He has the best of all possible worlds. He writes a column for the "Cincinnati Post," which he loves to do. And then he goes to New York twice a week or twice a month.
KING: As an AMC host...
CLOONEY: Yes, in's and out's then goes to a couple his favorite restaurants. That is it.
KING: And he is the father of George?
CLOONEY: Hey, hello. You betcha'.
KING: Did you know George had talent as a kid?
CLOONEY: Yes. Because more than anything else, he just -- he would not be denied. And in a houseful of a lot of kids, and there were a lot of grand kids around, he would get on top of a chair to get attention if necessary. He just -- he is always cute. He always had a kind of a way of getting around things. He worked hard. He worked very, very hard.
KING: He was always cute?
CLOONEY: Yes, he is a cute boy.
KING: The singing part when you weren't singing, that part of the career when were you down.
CLOONEY: Yes.
KING: Did you miss singing or did you not care?
CLOONEY: Didn't care. Didn't even listen to music. Isn't that interesting. Because I really love it better than anything else.
KING: How many years were you away?
CLOONEY: '68 was the time when I truly checked out. And then Bing asked me to come on the road with him in '75. I had played a lot of place that weren't too great. But you know, I worked.
KING: Did you have a nervous breakdown?
CLOONEY: Yes. That is what it was called.
KING: Do they know what the cause was?
CLOONEY: Yes. Probably prescription drugs and playing with them, you know. Taking too many.
KING: Uppers and downers...
CLOONEY: Not uppers as much as downers. I loved downers, almost any kind. Loved the colors of them. Loved them yellow... I did. I would just have a bouquet in my hands at night. You know god just luck me out.
KING: And you were drinking at the sometime?
CLOONEY: Not so much, no. Didn't care about that, didn't want to hurt the pill thing.
(LAUGHTER)
KING: Play us out. We will come right back with more of Rosie Clooney wonderful music for the entire show tonight. All, by the way, featured in the album "Mothers and Daughters" from concord. When we come back, Learner and Lowe take center stage with Rosie Clooney. Don't go away.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
KING: We're back with Rosie Clooney on this edition of LARRY KING WEEKEND. She is our guest for the full hour with us. As we said a little surprise in the last segment, always great to see Rosie. She'll be back at "Rainbows" in "Stars" in New York in May. And she'll be in a city near you sometime in near future. The woman came back from depression and hasn't stopped. In fact, a lot of people wish you would take the pills again. She is getting on people's nerves, you know what I mean? Let's identify the group here. Chuckberg Hoff on bass, Paul Thumb Frei is on the drums, Gary Foster on sacks, Warren Luning on trumpet, and pianist...
CLOONEY: John Lardo (ph), who is the love of my life. He is so wonderful.
KING: Has he been with you forever?
CLOONEY: Thirteen years now since Woody Herman. Woody died and I inherited him.
KING: From Woody, not bad.
CLOONEY: Yes, not bad at all.
KING: Tell us about why you included Learner and Lowe from Gig.
CLOONEY: "Thank Heaven for Little Girls." I love the song so much. Then I remembered a television show I did with Bing. And he had Chevallier on, you know. He sang it. And when he finished, he said -- the last thing he said, thank heaven for little girl -- and I -- didn't quite go to littler. But I did a little...
KING: He was a piece of work.
CLOONEY: Wasn't he something? Wasn't he wonderful?
KING: He had an air about him.
CLOONEY: Oh, my. And the joy that he had of singing, I think was a great lesson for me. I watched him smile. And the smile you could hear. KING: He loved it.
CLOONEY: Yes. You could hear his smile, even if you didn't even see it.
KING: When he did this song in the move, I mean, this was his song. I don't think I have heard anyone do it, but him.
CLOONEY: No. Well, here I am.
KING: You are going to do it now.
CLOONEY: Yes.
KING: Rosie Clooney. This was written by Learner and Lowe for the film "Gigi." There is the mike.
CLOONEY: Thank you, sir. Sorry.
KING: This is song introduced by Chevallier continued by Clooney.
CLOONEY: Each time I see a little girl/ a 5 or 6 or 7/ I can't resist a joyous urge to smile and say, "thank heaven for little girls/ for little girls, get bigger, every day/ thank heaven for little girls/ they grow up in the most delightful way/ those little eyes so helpless and the appealing/ one day we will flash and send you crashing through the ceiling/ thank heaven for little girls/ thank heaven for them all/ no matter where, no matter who/ without them, what would little boys do/ thank heaven, thank heaven, thank heaven for little girls
/those little eyes, so helpless, and appealing/ one day will flash/ and send you crashing through the ceiling/ thank heaven for little girls/ thank heaven for them all/ no matter where, no matter who/ without them, what would little boys do/ thank heaven, thank heaven, thank heaven for little girls/ thank heaven for little girls
/It's a nice arrangement. Thanks.
KING: Oh, yes.
CLOONEY: Lovely arrangement, yes.
KING: Who is arraniger?
CLOONEY: Him.
KING: Otto.
CLOONEY: Otto.
KING: That's wonderful. By the way, there was a great lady in Rosie's life, Betty who passed away, her sister. She was one of my favorite people on earth. She used to come on the show with me in Miami, the Clooney sisters. CLOONEY: Call you.
KING: She called on my show.
CLOONEY: All the time too.
KING: How old was Betty?
CLOONEY: Forty-five.
KING: Brain aneurysm, right?
CLOONEY: Yes.
KING: And you do work now for charities?
CLOONEY: Yes, yes. It's Betty Clooney Foundation for persons with brain injury, like aneurysms that you out so fast or change your life.
KING: When you -- as you older and sing, what accommodations do you make?
CLOONEY: For?
KING: For your aging process. We are all getting older.
CLOONEY: Oh, listen. I had a knee replacement. In addition, I'm getting parts exchanged now. So honest to god. And so it is -- that is something that I have to kind of watch out for, because change of climate, that's dumb. But it is titanium and plastic. It's OK.
KING: How about breath control?
CLOONEY: Since I stopped smoking, that is OK.
KING: So it hasn't affected?
CLOONEY: No. There is always a way to phrase so that you can really make...
KING: Overcome it.
CLOONEY: Yes, overcome it. Because people don't talk with long, long, long breaths.
KING: Damone told me once singers learn lots of tricks, lots of little things. He could sing above a cold.
CLOONEY: He didn't learn anything. He doesn't have any problems. Victor Damone has one of those voices. It's like iron wall except it sounds like...
KING: He has never had a problem in his life.
CLOONEY: Never had. KING: You get him off the golf course, he'll sing.
CLOONEY: Of course. He'll sing at the drop of a hat. And that is it. He's told, he said, oh, I have a terrible cold tonight. You can't tell it. It makes me angry.
KING: He gets...
CLOONEY: Yes. he does.
KING: Play us, John. We will come right back. We are half way through with Rosie Clooney. A lot of great songs to come and surprises too on LARRY KING WEEKEND. Stay there.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
KING: Here's our salute to a great entertainer, and a great lady, and a great voice, Rosie Clooney, with us for the full hour on LARRY KING WEEKEND. We have heard some great songs, we've got another one coming, some more coming as well.
Rosie goes back to "Rainbows And Stars" in May in New York, and "Mothers and Daughters", her new CD is out from Concord. Tell me about this song "God Bless The Child." In the album?
CLOONEY: Yes, written and recorded by Billie Holiday many years ago, and I met Billie through Tony Pastor because they worked together in Artie Shaw's band.
KING: Billie sang witht he band and Tony played witht he band. Tony sang, too.
CLOONEY: Sure, wonderful singer. Anyway Billie and Tony were really close friends so when I met her, she kind of made that association and was a very good friend of mine and was nice to me. And so she is my first daughter's godmother.
KING: Billie Holiday?
CLOONEY: Yes.
KING: Didn't know that.
CLOONEY: Yes and so...
KING: This was her song?
CLOONEY: This was her song, so I dedicated it to my daughter, Maria.
KING: What is special about when you sing it? Ties you to your daughter?
CLOONEY: Ties me to my daughter, also Billie had a way of warning people about life. If you listen very carefully, there is a lot of stuff out there so be careful. KING: There was no one like her.
CLOONEY: No one like her. No one like her, in person, as a singer, no one like her.
KING: Another one that died too soon.
CLOONEY: Yep.
KING: The mike.
CLOONEY: Sure.
KING: Miss Clooney, in tribute to Billie Holiday. This is "God Bless The Child."
CLOONEY: Them that's got shall get/ them that's not, shall lose/ So the Bible says, and it's still is news./ Mama may have, and papa may have/ But God bless the child, that's got his own, That's got his own
/Yes, the strong gets more while the weak ones fade/ empty pockets don't ever make the grade./ Momma may have, and papa may have,/ but God bless the child that's got his own, that's got his own/ Money you got lots of friends, crowding round your door/ but when you are gone, and spending ends/ then they don't come back no more, no more./ Rich relations give crusts of bread and such/ You can help yourself but don't take too much./ Mama may have, and papa may have, but God bless the child that's got his own, that's got his own/ God bless the child that's got his own.
From Billie Holiday to Maria Ferar.
KING: When you sing a song that moves you, is that harder?
CLOONEY: Yes. Yes. I got to be careful, because if I start to cry then I can't sing.
KING: Right.
CLOONEY: You know who can do it, though? Vicki Carr can sing and cry. And Bernadette is good at that, too.
KING: Peters.
CLOONEY: Yes, I would like to talk to both of them and find out how they do it.
KING: How they do it. Are they faking the cry or are they really crying?
CLOONEY: No, they are really crying. Tears just rolling down the cheeks and the voice just fine. I don't know. I don't know how because mine cuts out and I sound like -- a kind of a tired Tony Bennett. KING: We'll be right back with more Rosie Clooney on LARRY KING WEEKEND. More of the great songs and a surprise coming, too. Stay right there.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
KING: We are back with the great Rosie Clooney, her new album is "Mothers and Daughters." It's out from Concord. The new CD is a tribute to mothers and daughters everywhere, especially to her own daughters, Maria and Monsita. We're going to hear "Funny Face" in a moment. You had a tough marriage, didn't you?
CLOONEY: I can't say all of it was tough.
KING: Very interesting man.
CLOONEY: Very interesting man.
KING: Dull, Jose Ferrar Was Not.
CLOONEY: Never, never. He was funny and talented and hard to live with and sometimes so easy to live with that you would get fooled again, you know, and think oh hey this is going to be a cinch. No, it wasn't. And we had five kids in five years.
KING: One of the great speaking voices.
CLOONEY: Oh, my, yes. My, yes.
KING: Joe.
CLOONEY: That is right.
KING: Tell me why "Funny Face?"
CLOONEY: I lived next door to Ira Gershwin for 30 years. I really did. And it was one of the joys of my life to know him and to hear the stories that he told about his brother. He and george lived in the house that I live in right now, that you got to come and see sometime because it is a killer.
KING: They lived in the house you...
CLOONEY: That I live in now.
KING: Do you feel...
CLOONEY: Don't laugh now. Sometimes I do. No, you are going to laugh, I'm not going to say it. The piano is in the same place and it is the piano, it's in the obvious place in the living room. I don't know, I feel their presence and so does our guest, tonight. I almost blew it.
KING: It is all right. Grab a mike. Here's Rosie.
CLOONEY: Thank you. KING: George and Ira's "Funny Face."
CLOONEY: Oh, I Almost blew the whole surprise. Yes, thank you.
I love your funny face, your sunny, funny face/ For you are a cutee, with more than beauty/ You've got a lot of personality, a thousand laughs I found/ in having you around though you are no Shirley Temple, for worlds I've not replaced/ Your sunny, funny face.
It's, oh, so very clear, I'm glad when you are near/ no angel child from heaven could ever take your place, I love that sunny, that sweeter than honey, that sunny, funny face.
KING: You are pretty good.
CLOONEY: Thanks.
KING: I have a suggestion for you. Why not try show business? Why not try singing? You know this could be good for you, Rosie.
CLOONEY: All right, I can't take direction, keep forgetting to put the mike...yes, sir, thanks.
KING: Now that you are back, and you're big...
CLOONEY: Well...
KING: Do you ever think of -- of -- retiring?
CLOONEY: I don't know what I would do, really.
KING: Like Milton Berle says, "Retire to what?"
CLOONEY: That is right, that's really true. I don't know what I would do. I would like to spend more time with my kids, and I have learned how to do that a little bit. So I take them on the road with me when I can this summer. And I visit them when I'm in town, but I have to sing.
KING: How many hits did you have? How many records have you sold?
CLOONEY: I don't know altogether, I don't know.
KING: You were you Columbia's leading female artist.
CLOONEY: For a while I was. I didn't sell very many albums, though. That is what the big thing is now. And I didn't make that many albums to begin with.
KING: You had single hits, though.
CLOONEY: Yeah.
KING: "Tenderly" was never a hit, though.
CLOONEY: No.
KING: Amazing.
CLOONEY: No, it was -- I had -- it sort -- it sold more than anything else had, but it was...
KING: It was a classic without being a hit.
CLOONEY: I made the 22nd record of it. Mine was the 22nd version.
KING: John, play us out.
CLOONEY: John, work.
KING: We have two more sements to go. When we come back, "A Child is Only a Moment." Don't go away.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
KING: We are back with Rosie Clooney. There's a song in this album, a song she is going sing now, "Unknown to Me." Tell me about "A Child is Only a Moment."
CLOONEY: It is a song that was written by a man named Earl Brown, and I met him with Bing, and he was a vocal arranger. He was with, he was with Dinah, too, and they were very good friends. He is a brilliant musician and he has written quite a few songs that were tremendous hits. One for Elvis Presley that I'm sure is still selling an awful lot of records. He brought this to me for this album, and it is amazing to me because he doesn't have any children, and he has poetically, really, he caught it. He will catch you with this. Because you know the feeling, and so do I.
KING: Being a parent.
CLOONEY: Yeah.
KING: There ain't no feeling like it. OK, Rosie Clooney, brand new song in the album "Mothers and Daughters." "A Child -- love the title -- is Only a Moment."
CLOONEY: Spring will return to the meadow when the long winter's chill fades away/ tomorrow, the blossoms will open their eyes to the skies, of a brand new day/ No matter how dark be the nightfall, each day the sun is reborn/ to shine on the beauties and wonders that stir with new life every glorious morn/ most of the treasures we cherish can delight us again and again/ a rose in a book and the murmuring brook, as it wanders across the glen/ the words of a poet that lie on the page can recapture the soul of the past/ A song in the heart can be sung and re-echoed, as long as our voices may last/ but a child is only a moment, only a snowflake of sweet remember when/ Yes, a child is only a moment, a wonderful moment that never comes again/ Yes, a child is only a moment, hold on to that moment, for it never comes again.
KING: And he doesn't have a child, the writer?
CLOONEY: No, isn't that something.
KING: Hard to believe.
CLOONEY: I know. He is a wonderful, wonderful writer, Earl Brown.
KING: That is an emotional song.
CLOONEY: Very. It is very.
KING: OK, we have a surprise coming. Play the piano because I want to do a little more tension to this in our last segment. We have a surprise coming, we're going to have a lot of fun with this. We're also going to hear Rosie sing with someone else. The last song George and Ira wrote together.
CLOONEY: In my house.
KING: In your house, where she lives, they wrote this song. We'll be right back! With Rosie and the surprise, next, don't go away.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
KING: Look who's here! The number one expert on Gershwin, the number one expert on Rosie Clooney. Our favorite pianist and songmeister, Michael Feinstein. How are you, Michael?
MICHAEL FEINSTEIN, MUSICIAN: Good. Great to be here.
CLOONEY: This is my baby.
KING: This is crazy. You came over here just for this, right?
FEINSTEIN: I came to watch.
KING: Because you are...
FEINSTEIN: Like Peter Sellers in ...
KING: Because you are a Clooney clone.
FEINSTEIN: I knew that this was going to be special.
KING: What is her greatness?
FEINSTEIN: The sound of Rosemary's voice is like mother's milk. I have always been so beguiled by the sound. The sound is just extraordinary and the wit, the intelligence, the connection to words, it is -- she is my favorite singer.
KING: Perfect place for her to live, right? In the Gershwin house.
FEINSTEIN: Of course.
KING: Where you stayed, you stayed with Ira.
FEINSTEIN: I used to hear her singing over the fence and I said God, I would love to meet her.
CLOONEY: And you know, he comes from Columbus. Really close to where I came from, so he came over one day and never went home.
FEINSTEIN: That is true.
CLOONEY: I love that. He became like my 6th child, really.
FEINSTEIN: Rosemary sang on my first record, when I was terrified she came in the studio and did a duet with me.
KING: I remember that song. I loved that song.
FEINSTEIN: "Isn't It a Pity?"
KING: "Isn't it a pity that we never met before." That was your first album you sang on. That's a great song. We'll have you come back and do that one.
FEINSTEIN: When it's his turn.
KING: A little background on this song, our closing number. By the way, what I'm going to do folks to make this easy is I'm going to say good night shortly, and we are going to close with these two wonderfully talents -- wonderful talents singing this song. But give me a little history of this song.
FEINSTEIN: This was written for the Goldwyn Follies. The last song that George and Ira wrote together. George actually died before finishing it. He wrote the chorus, Ira finished the verse of, the introduction, without George and I feel that he wrote these introductory words as a comment about George's passing.
KING: Some said that this was Ira's love song to George.
FEINSTEIN: Yes, I feel that.
CLOONEY: Truly. Me, too.
KING: Grab a mike, Rosie.
CLOONEY: Sorry.
KING: This has been another edition of LARRY KING WEEKEND. We leave you with a great treat. We'll let them finish the program, Rosie Clooney, Michael Feinstein. "Our Love is Here to Stay." Thank you darling.
CLOONEY: Thank you sweetheart.
KING: Thanks for dropping by Michael. Come in any time. See you with Clinton.
CLOONEY: Go.
FEINSTEIN: The more I read the papers the less I comprehend the world and all its capers, and how it all will end/ nothing seems to be lasting but that isn't our affair, we've got something permanent, I know the way we care./ It's very clear, our love is here to stay not for a year, but ever and a day .
CLOONEY: The radio and the telephone and the movies that we know, may just be passing fancies and in time, may go
/FEINSTEIN: But, oh my dear, our love is here to stay/ together we, going a long, long way.
CLOONEY: In time the Rockies may crumble, Gibraltar may tumble, they are only made of clay/ but our love is here to stay/ our love is here to stay.
I love you, Mickey.
FEINSTEIN: I love you.
CLOONEY: OK. He's a nice man, isn't he?
(END VIDEOTAPE)
KING: What a lady! That's it for my interview with the wonderful Rosemary Clooney. We'll miss her awesome talent and that great personality.
Join us tomorrow night for another great show. Thanks for being with us this evening, and good night.
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