Music Attorney Jay Cooper on the Biz’s Political State in the ’60s

In his nearly 60 years as one of the music biz’s most respected attorneys, Jay Cooper has never lost the beat. That’s only surprising if you don’t know his background as an in-demand big band and symphony musician himself, playing with the greats including Frank Sinatra, Charlie Barnet, Nat King Cole, Maynard Ferguson and Les Brown. As evidence his law gig is still swinging, consider how Cooper spent his Super Bowl Sunday: as guest of superstar client Katy Perry, who just happened to be lighting up 120 million pairs of eyeballs as the queen of half-time.

In 1960 you were involved with the political side of the musicians union here in Hollywood. What else were you up to?
I was still playing and I was practicing law part time. I was a sole practioner in Beverly Hills, working out of someone else’s office, representing musicians, singers and dancers.

Did you stay active in Local 47 politics?
I was invited to join the ticket that year and we won, so I was on the board of directors, but I got frustrated and quit because I felt things just weren’t getting done.

The musicians unions weren’t all integrated yet. Was that an issue here?
When I first joined the union in 1947 it was segregated. There was the regular union and the so-called black union or Negro union, as it was unfortunately called at the time. But all the musicians I knew had the attitude, “We all play together so we all gotta be together.”

Hollywood was a real music town back then.
Sunset and Vine was the center of the universe. You had Wallich’s Record City, Dot Records, CBS, RCA, NBC, ABC. Every movie studio had a full symphony, and so did every TV network. You had several ballrooms with big-band music seven nights a week. Hollywood Boulevard had jazz clubs, and the Strip had Ciro’s, the Mocambo and the Crescendo with the Interlude upstairs. At 2 a.m. you’d run into everyone at the local deli. And after that you’d see other musicians shopping at the Hollywood Ranch Market on Vine, which was open 24 hours.

Sounds like a dream time.
But I never thought about it. I only thought, I’m earning a living, working day to day, where’s my next gig? Except there was one gig when I knew how special it was. I was in Sinatra’s band during his 10-day stay at the Mocambo back in 1955. Every night after the show I’d float down Sunset Boulevard and I knew, “This was fabulous.”

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