Columnist Susan Snyder: Morris returns to his beat

Friday, Oct. 1, 2004 | 8:31 a.m.

Bobby Morris won't reveal his age, and laughs when asked.

His affinity for in-line skating and his first-place plaque for a 1993 downhill slalom ski race at Utah's BrianHead won't lend many clues.

"To me age is psychological, not chronological," Morris said. "Just say I've been here for 40 years, and I came here as a young man."

Still, one can get in the ballpark by considering that Morris played drums for jazz great Louis Prima and worked as Elvis Presley's conductor at the old International Hotel.

"I skipped school to see Benny Goodman's orchestra. I was 11 or 12," Morris said, almost as an invitation to do the math. "I saw Gene Krupa, and I got hooked."

"Hooked" is an understatement. Morris has played drums not only for Prima, but also for Frank Sinatra, Charlie Parker, Dizzy Gillespie, Nat King Cole and Louis Armstrong, among others.

There was a time when a kid learning to play might have used a set of Bobby Morris drumsticks (size 5A -- lightweight for jazz). Downbeat magazine once named Morris one of the world's top three drummers. Krupa and Buddy Rich were the other two.

He is one of those hidden Las Vegas treasures obstructed from view by shiny new facades and hordes of newcomers.

Morris came to Las Vegas in the early 1950s to work an 18-week gig with a New York-based band, and he never managed to make it back to the Big Apple. At least, not permanently.

He played with Prima's band 32 weeks a year in Las Vegas. The rest of the time they toured, appeared on "The Ed Sullivan Show" and even played for President John F. Kennedy's inaugural ball.

"That was one of the highlights," Morris said Tuesday as he sat in the East Sahara Avenue office from which he has run a talent-booking agency for 30 years.

Another highlight, he says, was working for Presley. Morris still autographs 8-by-10 glossies of himself with The King. He has at his fingertips a copy of Presley's album, "The Legend Lives On," for which Morris' office provided the album cover's setting.

He still assembles orchestras for special shows. He will be playing behind two acts he also is promoting. One is a tribute to Peggy Lee, Judy Garland and Billie Holiday. The other is an Elvis tribute by Paul Casey.

"That one brought me out of semi-retirement," Morris said. "The guy is freaky. He sounds so much like Elvis."

The years dropped away as Morris picked up a set of sticks and beat on a rubber practice pad, tapping out the signature double-time shuffle rhythm he developed for Prima. He was "working his chops up" for a Louis Prima tribute that he played at San Francisco's exclusive Bohemian Club Thursday.

The gig was a breath of fresh air for Morris, who has grown frustrated by the corporate atmosphere and high turnover that permeates the music business. He didn't have to explain who he is. Once again, his name was enough.

"I'm going to have a full orchestra," Morris said, his eyes sparkling like a child looking forward to a trip to the fair. "It's going to be very exciting. All the biggest people in the world will be there."

And one of them was sitting behind the drum set.