Loving Feeling and More for a Righteous Brother in Need

When the Righteous Brothers’ “You’ve Lost That Lovin’ Feelin’ ” hit the airwaves, I can remember thinking that rock ‘n roll just couldn’t get any better than that. About every kid in my high school senior class would burst into different pieces of that song at any moment. It’s 31 years later, and “Lovin’ Feelin’ ” can still be heard daily on one or more stations in the Southland.

Orange County and its nightclub scene in the ‘60s were roots for the Righteous Brothers, Bill Medley from Santa Ana and Bobby Hatfield from Anaheim. Until a few years ago, Medley owned a Fountain Valley nightclub called the Hop, which is now Music City. And Hatfield, whose wife, Linda, suffers from lupus, a disease that attacks the immune system, gives numerous local benefits for the cause, including an annual golf tournament. Both still live here.

There’s another Orange County name that’s a part of the Righteous Brothers story, less familiar to most: the Rillera brothers. Both Medley and Hatfield sang at one time with Rick Rillera’s local Rhythm Rockers. When they hit it big later, Rillera, now 60, became their lead guitar player. His brother, Barry Rillera, now 55, still plays bass guitar for the Righteous Brothers; he’s also their conductor. They continue to play major venues, such as the MGM Grand in Las Vegas.

And then there’s little brother Butch Rillera, now 50. For years he was a Righteous Brothers drummer, and at one point was a manager of two of Medley’s nightclubs. He was also manager of the recently closed Empire Ballroom in Costa Mesa.

Two months ago, the world came to a standstill for all the Rillera family. Butch suffered a brain aneurysm, which burst during surgery. His condition was then complicated by a stroke, and then pneumonia. He’s lucky he even made it.

“It’s been a rough time,” says Marri Rillera, his wife. “He’s getting better, but he’s got a long way to go.” He’s left with a paralyzed vocal cord and paralysis on the right side of his body, plus a whopping set of medical bills.

Enter the Righteous Brothers for their longtime friend.

They’ll play a benefit at Music City on April 1, proceeds for Butch. It was sold out almost immediately. They’ll play there the next night too, this time for Hatfield’s lupus cause.

Medley was at Butch’s hospital bedside almost immediately, and both of the Righteous Brothers have kept in touch. Butch, who can walk with a cane, will attend the benefit, at least for as long as he can hold up.

The Righteous Brothers, says Marri Rillera, “are part of an extended family. Sometimes those ties are just as strong as real family. There’s just a deep kindness there that we won’t forget.”

Connecting to Pain: Here’s another example of someone offering help to others: When 17-year-old Michael Halsell of Newbury Park was hospitalized last week with major burns over most of his body (after touching a high-voltage electrical line), one of his first visitors was Dave Jordan Robinson, 19, formerly David Rothenberg.

“I just wanted to let the family know there is hope,” says Dave, who is all too familiar with hospitals.

He was left permanently scarred when his father, feuding with his ex-wife, set fire to their Buena Park motel room in 1983, and left Dave (known as David then) inside to die.

Resume Building: When your coffers are down by more than a billion dollars, you take all the free help you can get. Which is why the treasurer’s office for bankrupt Orange County is adding Irvine Valley College to its small bank of volunteer interns. The carefully screened accounting students will work on information gathering for financial and fixed income markets. They will also get to attend weekly staff meetings.

Says Laura U’Ren of the college’s job placement office: “We’ve got a lot of students who want these internships. Not only is it great experience, it will give them an edge when they’re out of school and competing for jobs.”

Scoring Again: It may not be the Grammys, but in its own field, the Outstanding Alumni Award from the American Assn. of Community Colleges is quite an accolade. Which is why Mark Mancina, a product of Golden West College (1976), will fly to Georgia in person next month to be one of 10 recipients of the honor.

Grammy winner Mancina wrote the musical score for “Speed” and produced three of the Elton John songs for “The Lion King.” His present pace has been to score or produce music for about five movies per year. Mancina says much credit is due two of his Golden West instructors, Allen Giles and David Anthony, who are still connected with the Huntington Beach school: “I was working on classical music and studying Elton John at the same time.”

Wrap-Up: Rick Rillera had worked with Bill Medley and Bobby Hatfield individually. When they put together that Righteous Brothers sound, he says, “It was just incredible, just great R&B.; But I never dreamed it could last as long as this.”

According to Billboard’s “Book of Number One Songs,” their first to top the charts, “Lovin’ Feelin’,” came about this way:

Phil Spector had bought up their contract and asked songwriters Barry Mann and Cynthia Weil to write a hit song for them. They checked into the famous Chateau Marmont on Sunset Strip (where John Belushi years later died of a drug overdose) and went to work. They finished the song at Spector’s Beverly Hills mansion.

Mann says that when he first heard the finished recording, Bill Medley’s voice was so deep on the opening Mann was convinced “it was on the wrong speed.” That intro made them all millionaires.

Jerry Hicks’ column appears Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday. Readers may reach Hicks by calling the Times Orange County Edition at (714) 966-7823 or sending a fax to (714) 966-7711.