Mort Lewis was a veteran music manager whose client list included Simon and Garfunkel, Dave Brubeck and the the popular folk outfit the Brothers Four. At the time of this interview, in late 2015, Lewis was representing Art Garfunkel, capping off a career that had begun in the 1940s. Variety first noted Lewis in 1959 during Brubeck’s controversial tour of Southern colleges.
Variety credits you with standing up to segregationists in 1959 who would only book Dave Brubeck’s jazz combo if they dropped their black bass player, jazz legend Eugene Wright.
We had booked 10 dates in the South at $1,000 per night (for 10 nights), $10,000 was a lot of money in 1959. But at that time, state laws prohibited mixed race groups on stage. I told Dave, if you pay Eugene for the two weeks, we can get Norman Bates, who is white, on bass. And I’ll never forget, Dave said, “Mort, that’s a great idea. But suppose they said, ‘You have to get rid of your Jewish manager?’” I got tears in my eyes. It was his choice and his words, not mine. Brubeck was a great guy.
But that same year you left Brubeck to manage the Brothers Four, who were virtually unknown.
I met the Brothers Four through a girl I was crazy about. She was studying at Mills College in Oakland, and she called up and said, “Four young guys from the University of Washington are coming down to do a show at UC Berkeley. I know them through friends in the fraternity here. Will you give them some advice?” Well, I was desperate to get on the good side of this girl and I saw them and they were four good-looking, personable young fellows. But I knew nothing about folk music. So I called up Frank Werber, who was managing the Kingston Trio, and they were making more money than Dave Brubeck. And Dave Brubeck was the biggest jazz star in the world. Frank got me an audition with Mitch Miller who was running Columbia Records, and he said, “This is exactly what we’re looking for. We need our own Kingston Trio.” So they got signed to Columbia immediately. And I was considering going back to Brubeck when their first record, “Green Fields,” was a million-seller. The decision to stay with them was made for me.
Simon and Garfunkel also came out of the folk scene.
Paul Simon wanted someone to get them college bookings and was told Bob Dylan’s manager was good at this and I was also good. He said, “I don’t want to be in Dylan’s shadow. What’s the other guy’s name?”
