1966 Diary

[Download the Diary (PDF 23 Megs)]

Cy was not only an extraordinary musician, but in many respects was also an extraordinary chronicler of his own career.  Included in the memorabilia he left are numerous playlists of the specific songs he played on a given occasion, whether during a radio performance or during an evening at a nightclub.  While these meticulous records are too lengthy to replicate here, one extensive item is too special not to include:  Cy’s 1966 diary.

Attached here in PDF format, Cy used this commercial appointment book to record the names of those who came to hear him play, day‑by‑day.  Listing the individuals’ names on the relevant date sheet in the diary, Cy’s entries reflect the presence of family, friends, fans, luminaries, and strangers from far and wide.  The diary is essentially an encapsulation of Cy’s audience for the year, some fifty years ago.

Disclosed in the diary is this very‑partial sampling of some of the notables whom Cy entertained in 1966, at the Drake Room and elsewhere:

Andrew Rosenthal (1/13, 1/26, 3/22, 5/4, 5/18, 5/20, 6/23)
Hubbell Pierce (1/15, 2/2, 2/12, 3/3, 8/24)
Roy Cohn (1/17, 4/19, 4/22, 10/28, 11/28)
Stan Freeman (1/22)
Walter Shirley and family (1/26, 2/21, 2/23, 3/10, 4/21, 4/29, 6/9, 7/26, 8/17, 8/21, 9/12, 11/14)
Helen Hayes (2/2)
Vivian Leigh (2/2, 2/10, 2/11, 2/15)
David Susskind (2/2)
Forrest and Leslie Perrin (2/2, 2/10, 9/7, 10/20, 12/27)
Alec Wilder (2/5, 3/31, 4/6, 4/13, 7/27, 8/15, 9/24, 12/8, 12/9)
Sir John Gielgud (2/10)
Larry Tisch and family (2/14, 2/24, 6/6, 6/15, 8/2, 10/18, 10/25, 11/1)
John Sullivan (2/23, 4/21)
Chilton and Vicki Ryan (2/24, 10/22. 12/23)
Johnny Mehegan (2/26, 12/15)
Mabel Mercer and Harry Beard (2/28, 4/11, 5/5, 10/19)
John Hearst (3/12, 3/17, 6/9, 8/11, 9/26)
Bill and Ann Cullen (3/18, 4/15, 9/15)
William O. Douglas (4/1)
Gil Bowers (4/1, 10/2)
Hoagy Carmichael (4/4)
Ralph Strain (4/21, 4/29, 9/1)
Ralph Paul (Ed Sullivan announcer) (5/4)
Sam Fairchild (4/14, 4/30, 5/10; 9/7)
Margaret Whiting (5/31)
George and Trixie Shearing (6/1, 6/28)
Clint Murchison (6/29, 8/16, 11/29)
Chilton and Vicki Ryan (6/2, 11/2)
Ted Straeter (6/18)
Bobby Short (6/21, 9/8)
Jack Lawrence (6/30, 10/12)
Gary McFarland (8/9, 9/22)
Kitty Carlisle (8/13)
Anthony Duke (8/21)
Dorothy Fields (8/21)
Pat Hemingway (8/21)
Phil Rizzuto (8/26)
Burt Bacharach (8/26)
Jack Lemmon (8/26)
Erroll Garner (10/2)
Joe Bushkin (10/3)
Hal Warren (10/5)
Rock Hudson (10/26)
Betty Davis (10/28)
Greta Keller (10/28, 12/10)
Eddie Lane (11/1)
Jack Sullivan (WNEW) (11/10)
Jack Ryan (golf pro) (11/17)
Nan Redell (11/17)
Bob Bach (11/24)
Christopher Plummer (12/3)
Hal Marks (music publisher) (12/7)
Irving Caesar (12/19)
Mrs. Winthrop Rockefeller and party (12/22)

Cy’s geographic notations include visitors from Wilmington, North Carolina; Paris, France; East Hammond, Indiana; Cincinnati, Ohio; Maine; Minneapolis, Minnesota; Savannah, Georgia; Chicago, Illinois; Hartford, Connecticut; Flint, Michigan; Dallas, Texas; San Francisco, California; Oberlin, Ohio; Sioux Falls, South Dakota; Buffalo, New York; New Orleans; Louisiana; Grosse Pointe, Michigan; Atlanta, Georgia; Short Hills, New Jersey; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; Wilmington, Connecticut; Barnstable, Massachusetts; Houston, Texas; Washington, D.C.; Fargo, North Dakota; Harrisburg, Pennsylvania; Memphis, Tennessee; Nantucket, Massachusetts; Baltimore, Maryland; Popponesset, Massachusetts; Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania; Waterbury, Connecticut; Scranton, Pennsylvania; Bermuda; Sheepshead Bay, Brooklyn; Los Angeles, California; Red Bank, New Jersey; New Tuscon, Arizona; Cleveland, Ohio; Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania; Baldwin, New York; New Caldwell, New Jersey; Lexington, Kentucky; Darien, Connecticut; Palm Beach, Florida; Naples, Florida; Richmond, Indiana; Rochester, New York; Owensboro, Kentucky; Dayton, Ohio; Larchmont, New York; Puerto Rico and St. Paul, Minnesota.

Cy also notes the presence of his children, including Mark (2/12), and Daphne and Vicki (2/22).  He includes also other, lesser‑known musicians, such as pianists Sam Anderson (3/18); Mike Mitchell (4/11); Ralph West (6/4); and John Stedman (7/6); and  trombone player Johnny O’Rourke (6/23).

Also noted are Cy’s having performed at parties or events at other venues, such as the “21 Club” (2/26); and at a benefit for the Boys Harbor summer camp, in East Hampton, Long Island (8/21).