Reflections. Gary Italiaander

break with a vengeance which included shrimp cocktails, ham sandwiches, Chinese pork dishes … the list goes on. I can only assume that this fall from grace provided the excuse to chuck Judaism completely!

      His lust for the opposite sex came at an unusually early age. Having entered the arena of glittering lights, his fascination with the entertainment business seemed to be fused with the excitement of working in theatres that included a line of very attractive chorus girls. He did lie about his age, claiming that he was 16, which seemed to have gained acceptability with theatre owners throughout the country.

      His pursuit of the opposite sex was quickly out of control and at such a tender age, (14 if I'm not mistaken) he had a string of conquests that boggled the mind.

      He was not particularly attractive. Short, scrawny and terribly near-sighted with his horn-rimmed coke bottle lenses that seemed to emphasize his physical deficiencies. Yet, his ability to get himself involved with the most beautiful women remains one of the great mysteries.

      The ensuing years solidified his ability to find the most alluring sex goddesses which became legend. However, he has allowed some of these women to literally walk all over him with the tiresome excuse that he "didn't want to hurt their feelings." These same women were unmerciful in their desire to wrest his considerable wealth from him.

      Jerry Adler

      © portrait by Italiaander

      Larry and I were not interested in athletics so his interest in music started at the age of 12. That's about when he became fascinated with the "mouthorgan." We are both self taught due to the characteristics of the instrument. I do not know, nor have I ever known, of a good teacher so it was up to us. We were 5 years apart in age and I was inspired by his genius and I pursued the instrument with great energy.

      In his ever-consuming desire for sexual pleasures, Larry became the easiest "mark" around. He protected the "integrity" with his ill-conceived belief that they were honest and all they wanted to do was to protect his welfare.

      Larry was well into show biz when I began to teach myself so he was not around to give me pointers. I have always worshipped him as a musical genius but more so as a very loving brother.

      Our father was a hard-working plumber and mother was a well-organized homemaker, adoring mother and excellent cook.

      When Larry became enmeshed in the disgrace of the McCarthy hearings, it totally destroyed mother and she spent the last 35 years of her life in and out of mental hospitals.

      There is no doubt that Larry was an original in the world of classical music who proved to a world-wide audience that a simple instrument, the harmonica, in the sensitive hands of a true artist, can achieve the respect and admiration accorded to musical giants such as Vladimir Horowitz and Isaac Stern. I vividly recall a rehearsal at the Hollywood Bowl where there was to be a concert with the Los Angeles Philharmonic featuring Horowitz, Stern and Adler. Larry who played the piano with some virtuosity had the chutzpa (cheek), while the audience was having a break, to start playing the piano in the presence of musical royalty. Horowitz said to him; “Larry, why do you continue to play that silly little instrument, the harmonica? THIS is your instrument!”

      But there is no doubt that Larry’s instrument was indeed the harmonica. He gave me the love, understanding and encouragement to make it my instrument as well, allowing me to establish my mark as a solo performer.

      By coincidence, I have officially retired from the music business, and on November 6th I gave my final concert here in Sarasota. I plan to donate my harmonicas to a local high school. 68 years in the business is quite enough. I am now 83 and intend to live out my life in peace and comfort with my dear wife, Jean.

      I have never been as devoted and as dedicated as Larry was in his pursuit of musical success. He has achieved the kind of successful heights that we all dream about. However, he paid a heavy price for it.

Larry begins his career

      Eventually, it was decided that Larry would be given piano lessons. Enrolled at the Peabody Conservatory of music in Baltimore where he studied the piano, he achieved the distinction of being the only student to be expelled from the Peabody! He had prepared a waltz by Grieg and as he entered the stage the Principle said; “And what are we going to play little man”? The ‘little man’ didn’t like being referred to in this way so instead of playing the Grieg he played ‘Yes, we have no bananas’! Following this, his parents received a letter stating: ‘Do not send him back!’

      That was effectively the end of Larry’s academic music education. A little while later, he had seen in the Evening Sun newspaper that a harmonica group was being formed so he went along to see what it was like. There was a man there who had been sent over from Germany by the Hohner harmonica company to form a band and teach the harmonica. Larry liked him and could see that he was a natural teacher.

      After about a year of lessons, the Evening Sun sponsored a competition, which Larry entered and made it to the finals. The main judge for the competition, Gustav Strube, was the founder of the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra and while all the other boys played popular songs, Larry played a classical piece; the Beethoven Minuet in G. At the end of the competition, after conferring with his panel, Gustav stepped forwards and announced:

      “Ve haf given de avord to Lorenz Cecil Aidler mit an average of ninety-nine und nine tents.” He shrugged, apologetically. “No von is pairfect.” (Larry Adler; It Ain’t Necessarily So, 1984).

      While growing up, it was a time of great bigotry and according to Larry the ethnic groups feared and despised each other and they avoided each other. He personally experienced anti-Semitism but didn’t understand the logic behind what made people think that way.

      With kind permission of Joachim Kreck Film - und Fernsehproduktion

      Larry wanted to leave home and go on the stage and as he had managed to gather around $50 from subscriptions of a magazine that he sold (which his parents didn’t know about), he did just that. Astonishingly, at 14 years of age, he simply bought a ticket and took a train to New York. Once there, he phoned his parents to let them know where he was and they immediately went to get him.

      However, he told them that if they did take him home he would simply run away again. He didn’t want to go back to school or to Baltimore. His parents consulted the family doctor who said that he was a very neurotic child and therefore the best thing was to leave him alone and let him stay in New York. Larry believed that the doctor hoped never to have to see him again.

      When Larry first got to New York, all he wanted to do was get a job on the stage in vaudeville. At this time the harmonica was considered to be a child’s instrument. A friend managed to get him an audition with ‘Borah Minevitch and His Harmonica Rascals’ who were the biggest name at the time where the harmonica was concerned. Larry played the same piece that had won him the competition in Baltimore but when he finished playing, Minevitch said, “Kid, you stink”! Larry was extremely upset, burst into tears, and his first thought was to go back to Baltimore. However, once he’d had time to think, he decided to try elsewhere and managed to get an audition with Rudy Vallee who at the time was a huge star.

      Vallee gave him the first opportunity to get on the stage at his night club and so Larry stayed in New York. Within a week he landed a job with Paramount, touring all over the United States on a salary of $100 a week in 1928, which is roughly the equivalent of over $1,300 today. This tour gave him the opportunity to learn stage craft; in particular how to entertain an audience as he was performing up to six shows a day.

      Larry had an amazing level of ‘chutzpah’. Whatever an obstacle came along, he found a way to overcome