The Story of Ralph Newman (PART ONE)

This story (PART ONE) is proof of the expression, “Our Eyes Are Bigger Than Our Stomach”:

My late partner and I coaxed an executive who worked at Broadcast Music Incorporated, a music collection company, located in New York City plus other major cities throughout the U. S. A. to join us at a famous restaurant in New York City.

Since Gene had co-written the music for a Broadway Show called, “Billy”, a play which was adapted from the book named, “Billy Bud”. He also had written, “Mr. Lonely” for Bobby Vinton plus a variety of other successful songs. I had written with and for “Bob Crewe”, for Jerry Ross and eventually became a songwriter for Berry Gordy Jr. and I also had records released on Tamla Records, we, together presented a major reason for B.M.I. to take notice and we got Ralph to take us to lunch.

Ralph was not really aware of the “Palms” restaurant in the fancy East Side district of New York.

He agreed to put the bill on his company charge account. Ralph, we found, was an avid collector of the antique Edison Talking Machines. Gene mentioned that he thought there were quite a few of those valuable collectibles located in his hometown of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. This was another reason for Ralph to connect with us.

Between our past successes and the possibility of his finding these “talking machines” at a low price, he agreed to take us to the Palms. What he didn’t know was that the Palms featured Five Pound Lobsters at a ridiculous price …. $50.00 pp (ala carte!). Gene and I didn’t really drink alcohol, but on this “special occasion”, we took full advantage and both of us had a couple of Bloody Mary’s. I believe the drinks at that time were $15.00 each!

We had a choice to have our lobsters ‘shelled’ or not (meaning we would do the work of taking apart the shells to get to the meat or having the meat served alone). We both never had a lobster any way but ‘shell on’.

It took all three of us about two hours to finish the meal and drinks (two each of us).

The final bill arrived. The total came to about $200 plus gratuity. In today’s dollars that would be about $1,200.00 in 2020 US Dollars!

Ralph gulped out loud .. and paid the bill (on his American Express card) with a worried look. We asked him, “What’s the problem, Ralph?” .. “That’s the biggest bill I have ever handed in!!!”

Well, of course, Gene and I had a hidden smile when we left but we both agreed, we would return the favor at a future time.

Sometime a few weeks later, we invited Ralph to join us to go to the same Palms Restaurant.

This time, we all had the five pound lobster, but we all agreed to try the ‘shelled’ version. Well, would you believe, each of us ate about half of the dish and brought the rest home.

The moral of this story is “If you work for your meal, you will take your time and the energy you expend will help you to eat every morsel.

Stay Tuned to PART TWO!