When Joe Bebco forwarded an inquiry about Max Morath from Anne Phillips recently, I anxiously responded. Anne and her husband, bassist Bill Phillips, were neighbors of the Morath’s in Woodcliff Lake, New Jersey, in the 1960s and 1970s. They lived only two houses apart and Max and Anne have fond memories of occasional activities together.
After helping Anne get in touch with Max, I was anxious to visit about her amazing career and her New Jersey memories of times there. Since both were show business families, they had a lot in common. Anne’s children were a few years younger than Max’s three, but they shared some activities together.
My favorite stories regarded the Phillips’ midnight Christmas caroling in the neighborhood (with beautiful harmonies, of course). In fact when Max’s oldest daughter Kathy heard Anne’s son Bart caroling, she proposed him for the role of Amahl in an extraordinary local production of Menotti’s great opera. They also remembered a Eubie Blake birthday party at the Morath's. Anne recalled Eubie spending most of the time in the basement playing pool with the youngsters. As adults, those young people now will have some amazing stories to tell.
The two neighbors had already made names for themselves, and their careers were really beginning to soar. Anne had previously been doing demo records for major composers and singers like Carole King and Burt
