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Singing at the famed, now-shuttered Latin Casino in New Jersey, Billy Ruth clearly recalls performing in front of 200 people. That in itself wasn’t abnormal for the man who had been singing for years, but it was who was in that audience — Frank Sinatra.
Even though it was 32 years ago, Ruth vividly remembers being invited to perform at a private birthday party for Sinatra friend Jilly Rizzo. Ruth and Sinatra never exchanged words, but the two made eye contact while Ruth performed a variety of Sinatra classics. Later, the singer from Eighth and Tasker streets was sent an autographed photo of the Chairman of the Board.
"It was quite an experience," Ruth said, adding the connection was made by a bassist Sinatra and Ruth had both worked with. "Most people spend a lifetime just to try to shake his hand and here I am singing to him. He was sitting 50 feet away."
Doing "I Get a Kick Out of You" and "Night and Day" — which Sinatra had famously sang — was something, but Ruth specifically remembers coming home at 6 a.m. after performing on and off from 2 to 4 a.m.
"I was wide awake. I couldn’t believe that I got to sing for him," Ruth said.
Ruth has even had the opportunity to perform multiple times for the cast of "The Sopranos" at high-rollers parties at Foxwoods Resort Casino in Connecitcut.
"I eventually got to know them," he said of the cast that included James Gandolfini, Edie Falco and Lorraine Bracco. "They very much liked Sinatra music. They were from North Jersey and New York. That’s Sinatra country up there."
Connecting with legends and legends-in-the-making comes easy to Ruth.
"If you can make people feel what you feel when you’re singing, then you’re doing your job," he said.
While Ruth continues to perform in front of live audiences, he recently released his first CD available on iTunes and CDbaby.com. "Here’s to Life" has Ruth covering numerous classics from all decades, such as "A Song For You," "Beyond the Sea" and "New York State of Mind," along with the title song.
"From people I spoke to, they thought it was refreshing to hear the songs done like that," Ruth said.
Monday, he’ll take the stage at Old Blue Eyes, a nightclub in Washington Township, N.J., performing songs from the new album, which dropped in August. Ruth did not think there was a market for his kind of music, which he considers timeless standards, until he was enticed into recording an album by brother-in-law Len Guercio, who ultimately became his producer.
"He is the one that said, ‘We got to get a project going. Why don’t you think about doing an album?,’" Ruth said.
Ruth liked the idea and, while he didn’t cover any Sinatra songs, he made his idol the theme of the recording.
"We got the concept of what Sinatra would do if he were still alive," Ruth said. "As far as Sinatra is concerned, Frank Sinatra is Frank Sinatra. He’s the master everyone learns from him. He’s very unique."
Born at Sixth and Fitzwater streets, Ruth was an only child. Although father Bill, a truck driver, sang around the house, neither parent (his mother Pauline was a homemaker) was in the music business. But the young Ruth would lay on the floor of his home listening to Sinatra records and humming the notes of "I’ve Got You Under My Skin" on his way to school, though he lacked the confidence to belt one out in front of others.
"I was always kind of shy," he said. "I didn’t want to sing in front of people. It was difficult to do."
He opted to stay at the back of the stage behind a drum kit. By 17, he was providing the beats for his first group, the swing band and jazz trio the Billy Ruth Group. By 19, the 1958 South Philadelphia High grad had performed in cities from Boston to Los Angeles and Las Vegas to Atlanta.
In the ’60s, bandmates encouraged Ruth to sing in the wee hours of a gig. The singer told himself at the time, "You got to be one or the other. You have to devote all your time and energy to one or the other."
He made his official debut at the 500 Club in Atlantic City singing "The Lady is a Tramp." Even though he was nervous, he looked at it as an opportunity to reach his goal of becoming a vocalist. It went well, he recalled, but he said Ruth had a lot to learn. And he never stepped behind the drums professionally again.
"To me, to sing on the same stage and perform on the same stage as those people did was certainly gratifying," he said of the club where Sinatra, Dean Martin, Jerry Lewis and Sammy Davis Jr. performed.
He honed his skills on cruise ships in the ’80s before limiting his travels to stay close to wife Renee, his spouse of 35 years, and now-34-year-old son Damien, currently of 29th Street and Snyder Avenue. While his son did not follow in his footsteps.
Soon after opening for comedians at Palumbo’s restaurant and nightclub, formerly at Ninth and Catharine streets, in the late ’80s and performing with orchestras in Ocean City, N.J., a decade later, he sang at casinos, in hotels and little bars.
"It was a wonderful ride all through the years," Ruth said. "I’ve met a lot of people I wouldn’t have met and been a lot of places I wouldn’t have been to."
Ruth most recently performed at September’s Vendemmia Festival, a wine event at 20th and Broad streets, for 4,000 people, as well as the St. Nicholas Italian Festival at Ninth and Watkins streets a month later.
"There’s 2,000 to 3,000 people out there who are just waiting to hear you sing," he said of the Italian Festival in which he participates each year. "It’s really a wonderful thing."
His album is a way for others to enjoy his music year-round. Most of the songs were done with a 17-piece band and 12-piece string ensemble, Ruth said. Using musicians he had worked with in the past, Ruth recruited "the real heavyweights around the area" to form his orchestra. Since it was hard to get everyone in the same room at the same time the project took about two years to finish, he added.
"I would like to see this go," Ruth said of the album, "but if it doesn’t, I can put a feather in my cap because it’s a work of art and it’s something to be proud of."
Contact Staff Writer Amanda Snyder at asnyder@southphillyreview.com or ext. 117.
