BILLY’S BACK, WITH ‘APOLOGIES’

For more than 35 years, Billy Eckstine has been “apologizing”--from the bottom of his heart, actually--but fans all over the world have refused to let the guy off the hook, demanding more and more as the clock wearily ticked on.

Even now, at age 71, the mellow, silky-smooth baritone gets more requests for that classic “I Apologize” than any other. And it’s no wonder.

The song, written in 1931 and recorded by Eckstine in December, 1950, was listed among the top 10 for two months in 1951 and made the best-sellers list for 19 weeks that year.

Back for his first Southland nightclub engagement in almost 15 years, Eckstine is geared for another round of “apologies” when he headlines tonight through Sunday at the Vine St. Bar & Grill.

“There are about eight or nine things people ask for,” he said during a telephone interview from his home in Las Vegas. Among them (all gold records): “Fools Rush In,” “Everything I Have Is Yours,” “Caravan,” “Prisoner of Love” and “Cottage for Sale.”

Curiously, none of these is the personal choice of Mr. B, a nickname taken from a tie clip he once wore bearing his initials--BE.

“My favorite,” he said, “is a song that wasn’t a favorite to anybody else. Victor Young wrote ‘My Foolish Heart’ and said he had a good follow-up, a song called ‘Weaver of Dreams.’

“I recorded it, and Nelson Riddle did the backup. Hell, my mother didn’t even buy it.”

But Nat King Cole surely would have.

“He said it was a beautiful song,” Eckstine continued, “and wondered if I would mind if he did it. Nat recorded it and, you know, his mother didn’t buy it, either.”

Born William Clarence Eckstein on July 8, 1914, in Pittsburgh, the singer launched his career 52 years ago in a Buffalo, N.Y., nightclub. He moved on to Detroit and Chicago before being hired as the vocalist with Earl Hines’ band in 1939.

Once established--he wrote and sang “Jelly, Jelly,” the band’s biggest success--Eckstine recommended the hiring of a young singer he still refers to as “my little sister”--Sarah Vaughan.

“I saw her first on an amateur show,” he said. “She also sang with me in my band.”

Eckstine left Hines in 1943 and worked as a soloist in nightclubs, then decided in the spring of ’44 to form his own band, featuring stars of the then-crystallizing bop movement.

Some of the most prominent names in jazz were members of that group at one time or another between 1944 and 1947--Dizzy Gillespie, Fats Navarro, Miles Davis, Charlie Parker--but Eckstine (who played trombone and trumpet between vocal arrangements) and his music failed to generate wide acceptance.

“It got to the point where making ends meet was getting harder and harder,” he remembered, “so I disbanded the orchestra.”

A year later, jukeboxes were lighting up across the country with the dreamy ballad “Everything I Have Is Yours” on the MGM label, and other Eckstine hits soon followed.

A few months ago, PolyGram re-released a two-record album of virtually every song Eckstine was ever identified with, but, predictably, “Weaver of Dreams” is not among them.

Earlier last year, a new Eckstine album came out, produced by Kimbo, a company that specializes in music for children. It includes some standards but also more recent selections, such as “Shadow of Your Smile” and “Pretty One,” a song Eckstine wrote.

“It was the first thing I had done in a long time,” the singer said, “but the company wasn’t equipped for the type of distribution we needed, and the album is available only in certain places.”

Meanwhile, Eckstine’s availability also is restricted.

Fresh from a “restful”--nonetheless, working--Caribbean cruise, the entertainer returns to Las Vegas for a 12-week run starting March 10 at the Four Queens. He is booked later in Atlantic City, where he appears every year for 12 to 16 weeks, and then he’ll be off to Brazil in May.

“I usually do a European tour once every 18 months.”

Still, there has always been ample time for a sport he has played for decades--golf. In fact, he lives alongside the Las Vegas Country Club course.

Once a scratch player, Eckstine said he had a 5 handicap when a gall bladder operation forced him to quit 10 months ago. Now, given the green light by his physician, he’s eager to resume playing.

His health, he said, is generally good, though he admitted he isn’t doing himself a favor by smoking as much as he does.

“I smoke all the time “ he said. “I’m a pipe smoker, and I roll my own cigarettes. I like strong tobacco. I don’t say it’s right, but so far, I haven’t had any problems.”

A confirmed bachelor now “and enjoying it” (he has seven children and three grandchildren), Eckstine has no plans to lighten his work schedule.

“I love it,” he said.

“It’s good to be in the business and out of the rat race. I’ll keep it up until it gets to be a job, as long as I can enjoy it.

“It think the public will let you know (when it’s time to quit).

“If you look out there and don’t see anyone,” he added, “you’re in trouble.”