From The Vaults: Billy Eckstine Assaulted, Drugged

Am I the only one who gets a charge out of these old Downbeats? Here’s an article I just have to share from Feb. 11, 1965:

Bill Eckstine Misses Opening; Claims He Was Assaulted

Singer Bill Eckstine missed his scheduled opening at the Royal Box of the Hotel Americana in New York City Jan. 4 and speculation of foul play ran high. Eckstine reappeared the following day, however, and said he had been assaulted on the street the night of Jan. 3, hauled into a car, robbed of about $600 and a watch, and then drugged.

Eckstine said he was trying to hail a taxi on 125th St. and Fifth Ave. on Jan. 3 when he was approached by three men, who pulled up in a car and asked for his autograph. While he complied with the request, Eckstine said, one of the men hit him on the back of the neck and

pulled him into the car, where he was robbed and made to drink a drugged liquid.

Eckstine said he does not remember anything from that time until he found himself on a bench in Mount Morris Park in Harlem in the early morning hours of Jan. 5. His physician reported that Eckstine suffered one broken and three bruised ribs. An official complaint was filed with the police and an alarm sent out for the three men on charges of assault and robbery. Eckstine was on the job at the Americana the evening of Jan. 5. On the previous night, several of the singer’s friends, including Sammy Davis Jr., Robert Goulet, and comedian Nipsey Russell, stepped into the breach and entertained the opening night crowd.