Jess Rand, Part Two

Mr. Jess Rand (former agent of Sammy Davis Jr., Sam Cooke, Glen Campbell and many others) came in once again last week, but this time on a Friday. His wife went to go and get her hair done, and our man Jess came into Attaboy to hang out with me for a little while. This time he was wearing tan slacks, tan dress shoes, a tan cashmere v-neck sweater with a blue & white oxford shirt, and as always, his flat cap. He also carried his camera bag.

We got to talking about Elvis which lead to a conversation about Colonel Tom Parker. Jess said to me, "You know, people think that the Colonel stole from Elvis, but that's not true. See, what Colonel Tom was into was PERKS. He was no dummy. RCA Records bought Tom a gorgeous home out in Palm Springs, which they had to keep quiet." He told me that RCA had also provided chauffeured limousine service to and from Palm Springs from Bel Air anytime, day or night. Not too shabby, huh?! According to Mr. Rand, the Colonel was quite the savvy businessman and got plenty of good perks from RCA and I'm sure from many others.

"Once I ran into him in the lobby of the RCA offices on 26th Street in New York. Colonel Tom pulled a brochure out of his pocket and showed it to me. It was all about this new, COLOR television that was coming out. I asked him if he was going to get one. I already got SIX of 'em, he said. Six, I asked? "Yeah--one for Elvis, one for me, and four to give away as gifts!" Colonel Tom told Jess that he should ask for one when he went in to renegotiate Sam Cooke's contract. Sure enough, Jess asked for two color T.V.'s--one for Sam and one for himself. He told me that about two weeks after the meeting in New York, a huge crate arrived at his home in Bel Air. The crate was so massive "I had to pay the guy an extra $20 to help me get the thing into the house!" Apparently the screen was only 11 inches but the T.V. was enclosed in a huge mahogany case.

Mr. Rand also told me another funny story about the Colonel. "Elvis had it in his contract with RCA that he got the highest royalties of anyone else on the label. At that time he was getting 6%. Tom knew I was going in to renegotiate Sam's deal. He asked me what my strategy was. I told him I didn't really have one. Tom said, 'You go in there and tell them that you want 6 1/4 or your client will WALK! You see, he knew if I got it for Sam, Elvis's royalties would go up to 6 1/2 %. He was a very smart man."

I asked Jess if he was still in touch with any former Hollywood or music business friends who had also retired in Montecito. "Rona Barrett is a dear friend, then there's Jack Jones and Ginny Mancini--you know, Hank Mancini's widow." This is a man who refers to Henry Mancini as HANK!!! He told me that a close friend of Rona's wants to use Jess's photos in a book he is writing, but that, "The guy only wants to give me 10%! I don't think so--I been workin' in the percentage business all my life and I KNOW what's fair."

He concluded our conversation by talking about his wife. He told me about how when he first met Sammy Davis Jr. and decided to represent him, he had to drop three clients and that he and his wife would have to move from New York to L.A. "Is he really THAT good?", my wife asked me. So I took her to Philadelphia where he was performing. Never before had she said this about a client, and never again did she, but she turned to me in the audience and said to me, 'I think we're gonna get REALLY LUCKY with this one!'."

"I woulda had nothing if it wasn't for her. She took the risk and stood by me all those years--she's a real pistol! She's my baby. We been married now FIFTY FIVE years." Yep--the Rand Man is amazing, alright. I look forward to his wife's next salon visit and the juicy tidbits we always get from this amazing storyteller.