Mae West: Hand Trouble?

Why Mae West Never Shook Hands
. . . During the next few years, Bob Thompson toured with Mae West and her entourage of musclemen. Impressed by Bob, Mae West demanded that he be her piano teacher, although they never even shook hands.

"Mae West believed when you shook hands with someone, their spiritual forces could take over your being," says Paula, who went on tours across the globe with Bob. "She did everything else with everyone. But she didn't shake hands."

After building a musical reputation playing with a big name like Mae West, Thompson got his big break in 1958 with a record deal from RCA. Signed alongside Esquivel, Billy May, Nelson Riddle and a crop of other musicians destined to be Hollywood stars, Thompson was asked to be the answer to Ray Conniff, on rival label Columbia. There was just one problem.

"Bob hated Ray Conniff," says Spenser Thompson. "My father thought Ray Conniff was a total square. You see, Bob was hip. Bob had soul." . . .
- - an excerpt from this article by Delfin Vigil - -
HEY, MR. SPACE MAN
San Francisco Chronicle
Sunday, June 26, 2005
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