Bay Club musician was one of ‘unknown’ Rat Pack

Mathis Winkler

Ronnie Brown, a longtime Balboa Bay Club entertainment director who

counted the Shah of Iran and Playboy readers among his fans, died

Saturday in Corona. He was 68.

An altar boy and recipient of the Boy Scouts’ God and Country Medal

for outstanding service to church and scouting, the Rhode Island native

began his career as a organist and choir director at age 12.

After earning bachelor’s and master’s degrees from the New England

Conservatory of Music in Boston, Brown served in the U.S. Army as an

assistant conductor and music theory instructor for the Army band.

From 1956 on, Brown worked with the big shots. Duke Ellington, Ella

Fitzgerald, Frank Sinatra and Dean Martin were among the stars he

accompanied on stage. Playboy Magazine nominated him as one of the

nation’s top 75 pianists in its All-Star Jazz Poll for three consecutive

years.

“He was one of the unknown Rat Pack guys,” said Michael Brown, 35, who

carries on his father’s musical legacy as a professional saxophone player

in Las Vegas. “I’ve got pictures of him arm in arm with Duke Ellington,

Joey Bishop and Barry Goldwater.”

Once time, Sammy Davis Jr. sent Brown a letter thanking him for

arranging a deal on a set of vibraphones.

“I got the vibes,” Sammy wrote, “and there [sic] just what I wanted

and I can’t thank you enough for getting me the vibes through this friend

of yours, also for the break in price. They came in exellent [sic]

condition and I’m practicing every night. Hope to see you soon.”

Former Pilot columnist Fred Martin quoted the letter in a 1995 story

on Brown’s battle with Alzheimer’s disease. While he’d suffered from the

degenerative illness for years, it was cirrhosis of the liver that

actually killed him, his son said.

“I was a fan of him,” Martin, 67, who now lives in Colorado, said

during a conversation Wednesday. “He was a helluva piano player.”

No one seemed to know exactly how long Brown entertained at the Balboa

Bay Club. Michael Brown said his father began working there in the 1960s

and stayed for two decades. Unable to confirm any dates, club officials

said he’d worked there in the 1970s.

“He was a wonderful musician and a very kind man,” said actress and

club member Mamie Van Doren, adding that she didn’t know Brown real well.

“He had to be if he stayed at the club all these years.”

Brown’s former colleagues remembered him as a ladies’ man.

“He was very, very, very much a lover,” said Jose Valenzuela, 58, who

has worked as banquet captain at the club for 30 years. “He got married

so many times. Off the top of my head, maybe five times.”

Four times, to be precise, Michael Brown said. While the family will

gather for funeral services in Costa Mesa on Saturday, Michael Brown said

he would have to leave early. He’s playing a gig at Disneyland the same

night.

“I know my dad would want me to do that -- to celebrate his life by

playing a concert,” he said.

Brown is survived by his children, Scott, Rick, Ronald, Michael and

Shari Brown, Patricia Childs and his brother, Karl Brown.

FYI

Funeral services for Ronnie Brown will take place at 4 p.m. Saturday

at St. John’s Episcopal Church, 183 E. Bay St., Costa Mesa. The family

has asked for help to pay for funeral costs and has established the

Ronnie Brown Memorial Fund, at the Bank of America, for donations.

Michael Brown added that he is looking for the owner of a boat in

Newport Beach to assist in his father’s burial at sea. For more

information, call (702) 257-6185.