Barry Manilow has fond recollections of Houston rodeo
You can’t keep a pop legend down for long.
Barry Manilow returns to the stage Wednesday night in Houston after postponing a few tour dates last week due to complications from emergency oral surgery. It’s part of what he’s calling his final tour.
The singer says he was “instructed not to talk, sing or rap” for 48 hours. He made a surprise appearance Sunday at music mogul Clive Davis’ annual pre-Grammys party.
Manilow, 72, earned a nomination for best traditional pop vocal album for “My Dream Duets,” which pairs him with Whitney Houston, Judy Garland, John Denver and Marilyn Monroe. He’ll perform some of them Wednesday night thanks to technology.
Q: What comes to mind when you think of Houston?
A: That big, Houston rodeo. That’s one of a kind. I’ve done it three times. When I started in Houston, I was surprised that anybody even knew the music. I never, ever in my life had seen anything like it.
Q: Will you miss anything about touring?
A: No, not at all. The only thing that’s wonderful is the gig and the audience. If I could just do that every night, I’d be a happy guy. I heard this joke, ‘Like the prostitute said, ‘It’s not the work, it’s the stairs.’ It’s getting there that’s the hard part for me. When that curtain opens and 10,000 people are screaming, you gotta be dead not to get so excited and grateful that they’re still there. And 45 years of room service, it’s enough.
Q: What’s your favorite room-service indulgence?
A: In all these hotels, they’re all the same. I don’t like eating. I know that’s crazy to say. I just don’t really pay much attention to food. When I start to tremble, I think, ‘Ooh, boy, I better eat something.’ Usually
it’s a hamburger.
Q: Must-haves on the road?
A: These days, of course, it’s my iPad, my computer. My Bose speaker has gotta come along with me.
Q: Is there a dream duet you’re still hoping to record?
A: When I sang with Barbra (Streisand), that probably was the last of my list. When I was younger, she was it for me. Getting to know her as a friend and singing with her as a collaborator was the top of the pyramid for me.
Q: Bette Midler was one of your earliest collaborators. Are you still in touch?
A: She’s got her own life. I’ve got mine. But I did produce two albums for her: the Rosemary Cloo- ney tribute (2003) and the Peggy Lee tribute (2005). We hadn’t been very much in touch before that. It was fun and energetic and exciting and crazy. Just the way it was when I used to work with her. Bette is the genius of our generation. She is so smart and so talented. And she’s funny. There’s nobody like her.