Pat Boone resembled a geriatric teen angel, from the top of his silvery hair down to the glowing tips of his white buck shoes.
But the most fun of his sold-out, 90-minute show Saturday at The Sharon L. Morse Performing Arts Center came when Boone shed that squeaky- clean angelic image and revealed a darker side.
About midway through the set, Boone, 82, took off his snow-white fringed-coat and donned a black-leather motorcycle jacket with some nasty sunglasses.
Boone — the guy who made the girls squeal during the 1950s with gushy numbers like “April Love” and “Love Letters In the Sand” – turned up the volume and ripped into Deep Purple’s “Smoke On the Water.”
It came from Boone’s 1990s’ album of heavy metal songs with big band arrangements.
“I got into some trouble over that one,” Boone told the audience. He appeared on a TV awards show dressed in leather and shades. “We got a lot of letters and they kicked me off Christian television. But I learned a lesson: you can’t judge people by their appearance.”
How do we judge Pat Boone in 2016?
The voice is noticeably weaker but the guy retains a sparkling personality, flashy smile and still knows how to sell a song.
After 60 years on stage and nearly 50 million records sold, Pat Boone still thrives in front of an audience.
He opened with one of his classics, “April Love,” and it seemed like 1957 all over again. He was accompanied on stage with a piano. Also, a film crew, with about a half-dozen cameras, filmed the show for Boone.
The singer seemed right at home with his aging brethren here.
“I played The Villages about 10 years ago and I remember my show sold out in about an hour,” Boone said while sitting on a stool near center stage. “The Villages has got to be the sweetest place in all the world.”
This show was filmed with film clips and personal biography. “I’m going to tell you my life story,” Boone said.
Then he sang another smash from the ‘50s, “Love Letters In the Sand.” In the middle of the number, Boone whistled the tune. Then at the end, he asked the audience to whistle along with him. Finally, he led the packed theater into a sing-along.
The film clips included a shot of Boone and his wife, Shirley. They met in high school and have been married 62 years. There were also images of their daughters, including Debby Boone, who once scored a No. 1 hit with “You Light Up My Life.”
But this day belonged to daddy.
Pat Boone brought emotion and feeling to a tender version of “The Look of Love.” He played video clips of his old rock hits, and would occasionally sing-along with them on such numbers as “Tuitti Fruitti,” “Ain’t That A Shame” and “Long Tall Sally.”
Boone later took some criticism for covering the songs of Black artists such as Little Richard and Fats Domino. But he has said in those segregated days of the 1950s, Black artists couldn’t get records played on the radio at the down of rock and roll. Boone helped them get exposure.
Boone also talked about the issue of race on his network television show in the late ‘50s.
“We had Black performers on because they were the best,” Boone said, showing clips of Nat King Cole and Ella Fitzgerald. One day, Boone said, Harry Belafonte called and wanted to be on the show.
Boone said he was “thrilled.” But Boone found out the network and the sponsors were getting criticized in the South because of the Black performers on his show.
“They wanted me to say no to Harry Belafonte,” Boone said. “I couldn’t do it. I told them I would leave.” Finally, the network and sponsors agreed to let Belafonte perform, but it never happened. Boone said he left the regular weekly show at the end of that season.
“I knew what was going on, I grew up in the South,” Boone said, referring to racial prejudice. “I wasn’t going to be a part of it.”
Boone had some funny video clips. One showed him singing “This Is My Country” on the Ed Sullivan show. The guy holding the cue cards, dropped them, and Boone had to make-up the middle part of the song. Another comical moment came when Boone played a clip from The Nashville Network. He was twirling a rope, when it accidentally hit his toupee and knocked it off his head.
“I was playing Will Rogers in a musical,” Boone said. “I had on the Will Rogers hair piece and it came flying off. I’ve still got hair, as you can see,” he said.
Near the end of the show, Boone sang the theme song from the movie, “Exodus.” He wrote the lyrics for that memorable and moving number.
Boone sang a rousing gospel medley, including “Brother Love’s Traveling Salvation Show,” “A Wonderful Time Up There” and “Amen.”
“If you believe, clap your hands,” Boone said and soon the audience joined in with glee. “We’ve got a lot of believers in The Villages,”
And those Villagers still believe in Pat Boone.
“I’ve always liked Pat,” said Villager Hector Bueno, who attended the show with his wife, Milagros. “He was always a good, wholesome down-to-earth guy.”
“Pat Boone is real,” his wife said. “What you see with Pat Boone is what you get.”
“Pat had a way with a song and he sang the kinds of songs that last,” added Villager Peggy Avila.
It’s tough for any performer to carry a 90-minute show, but the 82-year-old managed to do it.
“Like any great performer, Pat is never going to stop singing,” said Jan Lavin, a popular singer in The Villages who was at the show. “You have to keep singing, because if you stop singing, you die.”
Pat Boone was alive and well on Saturday in The Villages.
