Side view. Ocean Grove, NJ. Paul Goldfinger photo © Click to enlarge.
KATHRYN GRAYSON and the cast. “We Open in Venice” from the movie soundtrack of Kiss Me Kate.
Archive for the ‘Great Auditorium Musical Event’ Category
The Greatest Auditorium, where all kinds of music is/was performed (except hip hop, be bop, rock, jazz and some others)
Posted in Blogfinger Presents, Great Auditorium Musical Event, tagged The Great Auditorium on March 11, 2026| Leave a Comment »
Modern OG history—2013: Gathering crowd in the Great Auditorium. “Sh-boom, Sh-boom” 13 years ago.
Posted in Blogfinger News, Great Auditorium Musical Event, tagged Sh-boom, The Chords, Wide angle photo of the Great Auditorium on March 6, 2026| 1 Comment »
The Great Auditorium in Ocean Grove. September 7, 2013. Doo Wops concert. CLICK IMAGE for a thrill. Paul Goldfinger photo ©
Paul Goldfinger Editor. Blogfinger.net. May, 2013.
In 1954, an R & B group called the Chords wrote this song and were the first to record it. “Sh-Boom” became the first Doo Wop song to make it to the top rung of the “pop chart.” That same year, the “Crew Cuts” made a more sanitized version which became a hit.
This song and “Earth Angel” were the first rock and roll songs I ever heard. This music changed my life and that of all my friends at Rutherford High School where we all had crew cuts and thought about sex every 20 seconds.
We did, however, find time to see “Blackboard Jungle” (1955) and to hear the soundtrack by Bill Haley and the Comets who performed “Rock Around the Clock” (first recorded in 1954). It became a massive hit with the arrival of that film.
At the Doo Wops concert on Sept. 7, 2013, in the Great Auditorium, the Duprees performed “Sh-Boom.” It was the only actual Doo-Wop selection in their set. Mostly they offered a Vegas style show. —-
Here is a re-mastered (2007) recording of the Chords’ version, from an album called “Atlantic Top 60:”
A Conversation With Freddie Parris of the Five Satins. Re-post from 2013.
Posted in Great Auditorium Musical Event, Music from the stage, tagged Freddie Parris in the Great Auditorium with the Five Satins, The Five Satins perform in Ocean Grove on January 10, 2026| 2 Comments »
Freddie Parris (on top) with the Five Satins. Vintage 1950’s.
Freddie Parris died yesterday, 1/16/22 at age 85.
We don’t get to report about doo wop music in the Grove any longer, so here is a very special report/interview regarding a remarkable and famous rock and roller who loved coming back to the Great Auditorium
By Paul Goldfinger, Editor @Blogfinger
We have to get one thing out of the way —there are only four Satins now, but they will be in the Great Auditorium for the Doo Wop extravaganza on June 22, 2013 and it is going to be a wonderful show.
I spoke by phone tonight with Freddie Parris, the lead singer and the guy who wrote one of the all-time best rock and roll songs ever—“In the Still of the Night.” That song is a classic story of a boy and a girl out together, a night in May, under the stars , hugging and hoping it all never ends.
But as simple as the story is, there is the marvelous and unforgettable musical composite of harmonies, rhythms, falsettos, shooby doos, Freddie Parris’s long notes, and a memorable tenor sax solo in the middle. All of that comes together into a mega-hit that never declines in popularity.
Freddie Parris, more recently. Lookin’ good.
Freddie has been performing his all-time-favorite song for about fifty years and he never gets tired of it. He wrote the song in Philadelphia while he was on leave from the Air Force. His inspiration was a girl friend who later left him, but her memory lives on in this song. Later he recorded “In the Still of the Night” with some friends in the basement of St. Bernadette’s Church in New Haven.
Over the years, the Five Satins have changed personnel and styles. In 1975, they took on a disco sound and became “Black Satin,” but later they returned to their roots.
Freddie Parris and the Five Satins have been performing all these years and they have played all kinds of music. In 1969 they were part of what was the first major “Oldies But Goodies” concert when they appeared on the same bill as the Coasters, the Comets, and Gary US Bonds.
He acknowledges that most of the original Doo Wop group members have passed on and that the current performers are mostly younger substitutes. We talked about how so many of these groups have changed their presentation with some developing Vegas style flashy acts and others finding new ways to present dated material.
An example is Barbara Harris and the Toys, who will be here on the 22nd. She does a wonderful take-off on the girl groups of the ’50’s and ’60’s. Then there are the “tribute bands” which imitate huge stars like the Beatles and the Stones.
Freddie thinks that the doo wop phenomenon will eventually fade as did the big band era which was predicted to last forever. But meanwhile Freddie and the Five (oops four) Satins will continue to do their show. He always looks forward to these concerts where he gets to reunite with old friends like the remaining Drifters.
Freddie and the Satins have been featured several times before in the Great Auditorium of Ocean Grove, NJ, and Freddie calls it a “wonderful and unique venue.” He loves the acoustics, the building and our historic town.
On June 22, The Five Satins will be arriving here with four Satins and a five piece band. He and Richie Freeman are original members of the group. Freddie is 77 years old, and he admits to slowing down somewhat, but he continues to travel and perform with his bandmates, one of whom is a woman. He loves the addition of the female voice, and it really helps with the high notes, especially the one at the end of “In the Still of the Night.”
The Five Satins are no one-hit wonders. They have recorded and hit the charts with many winners over the years, and we will hear some of them at the concert. Freddie hasn’t yet determined the program for his Ocean Grove segment, but he says that “every song has its place.” Meanwhile his motto seems to be, “Let the good times roll.”
That night we will also hear John Kuse and the Excellents, The Brooklyn Bridge, and Barbara Harris and the Toys. Hosting will be 101.5’s Big Joe Henry. Tickets are $35.00 reserved and $30.00 General Admission. Order online at http://www.oceangrove.org or by phone at 800 590 4064.
Good evening ladies and germs. Blogfinger presents Freddie Parris and the Five Satins with “In the Still of the Night” A great song like this is recognizable after one bar, so grab your significant lover, I mean other, because this is the ultimate slow dance.
Here’s the link to the BF article about the Excellents and “Coney Island Baby.” Don’t miss this:
Coney Island Baby….You’re my lucky star.
Posted in Great Auditorium Musical Event, tagged Coney Island Baby, Doo Wops in GA June 22 on January 9, 2026| 5 Comments »
“Coney Island.” Photo by the famous photographer Andreas Feininger. 1949
Coney Island beach
This is Eileen. She was 16 years old when I took her under the boardwalk at Coney. Silver gelatin darkroom print. Leica film camera with Tri-X. Paul Goldfinger photograph .
CONEY ISLAND: Nathan’s hot dogs. (“baloney on a roll” **), Steeplechase Park, on top of the boardwalk, under the boardwalk, freak shows, barkers, Tuesday night fireworks from a barge in the ocean, Shatzkin’s knishes, the Parachute Jump, the Cyclone, the Wonder Wheel where the cars moved in and out, the beach where it was so crowded that somebody might bite your tuna sandwich, riding the waves, holding the ropes and dunking yourself, changing clothes in the back of a car, and searching the surf for the Coney Island whitefish.
There were guys trudging through the hot sand wearing pith helmets and carrying heavy freezers with dry ice over their shoulders while yelling, “Hey, get your ice cream here.”
And there were always couples “making out” on their beach blankets. But I was a little kid, so other things were more interesting.
I could go on and on about one of my favorite places on Earth. We would come from Jersey. We never went to the Jersey Shore except once when my Aunt Marion and Uncle Al rented a place in Bradley Beach. They shared a kitchen and fridge with other renters. But it couldn’t beat Coney Island.
Sandy zapped Coney Island, but not too bad. Unlike in Seaside Heights, the Cyclone stood fast. Nathan’s just re-opened (they cut a ribbon of hot dogs), and many millions of dollars have been spent on the Coney Island recovery.
I associate music with Coney Island, and there is one song “Coney Island Baby” which will be sung in Ocean Grove on June 22. (2013). in the Great Auditorium by the Excellents. It seem that a certain kind of girl came from Coney–like the Jersey Girl.
“Under the Boardwalk” by the Drifters makes me think of Coney Island, but it really isn’t about that. The memory there is that there was an actual city under the Coney boardwalk with stores and attractions. It was always dark, damp and exotic to a little kid. Music played from AM radios. I thought that people lived in that subterranean place and never emerged.
That Saturday night in the GA, we will hear The Brooklyn Bridge, Freddie Parris and the 5 Satins plus John Kuse and the Excellents. Big Joe Henry from 101.5 will preside. It’s sad, but he stepped on a dog’s tail, and the dog died. (Yikes!). And also, Barbara Harris and her two young Toys do an amazing set featuring covers of the big time girl groups of the day. Don’t miss it.
THE ELEGANTS:
—Paul Goldfinger 2013.
THE EXCELLENTS: “Coney Island Baby.”
This song brings tears to my eyes; not for any romantic reason but because of the aromas, the sounds, the sights, the foods, and the family. Even though the beach was crowded, as a kid I would lie on my stomach and contemplate counting the grains of sand. Those moments quickly dissolved into thin air, and then I would race into the water, getting salt water up my nose and sand in my shorts.
This summer, take a ride there and visit Nathan’s. Then walk on the boards and hear Russian being spoken by men with their shirts off reading Yiddish or Russian newspapers, and gaze at the myriad of sights, still present, but just a remnant of another world.
And don’t forget Woody’s movie “Wonder Wheel” set at Coney. Here’s a link to our review and more music:
**”Go to Coney and eat baloney on a roll” is from the Rodgers and Hart classic “Manhattan”
Modern OG history—2015: 31st Annual Law Enforcement Memorial Service in the historic Great Auditorium of Ocean Grove, NJ.
Posted in Blogfinger Presents, Great Auditorium Musical Event, Ocean Grove events, Photograph by Paul Goldfinger, Photography in New Jersey, Photography: Jersey Shore Gallery, tagged 2015 Law Enforcement Memorial Service in Ocean Grove NJ, Law Enforcement Memorial Service in the Great Auditorium Ocean Grove, Photographs from the Law Enforcement Memorial Service in Ocean Grove on September 29, 2025| 2 Comments »
A police color guard enters the Great Auditorium, signalling the start of the Memorial Service. All photographs and text by Paul Goldfinger, editor @Blogfinger. ©. Click photos to enlarge.
Multiple color guards wait inside. ©
By Paul Goldfinger, MD. Editor Blogfinger.net
Today, Tuesday, May 19, 2015, was the 31st Annual Law Enforcement Memorial Service in the Ocean Grove Great Auditorium. It is the oldest event of its kind in the U.S. Five officers who lost their lives in the line of duty this past year were honored along with others who were previously lost. The youngest one was only 22 years old, and he died just five months ago.
Many dignitaries including Gov. Chris Christie, were present to offer prayers, gratitude, remembrances and condolences.
Gov. Christie on stage before the ceremony. ©
Over a thousand law enforcement personnel were present in dress uniforms including large groups from the New Jersey State Police, Newark and Jersey City PD’s.
Neptune Township Police Chief James Hunt and his police were there along with representatives of PD’s from around the state, plus federal, county and state agencies.
Jersey City Police Department. ©
The Governor presented plaques, hugs, and kind words to the families of the 5 men. To the survivors he promised, “We care about you.”
West Windsor-Plainsboro High School choral groups get ready in the choir loft. They got to sing in the Great Auditorium with the famous Hope-Jones organ. It was beautiful. ©
“You Raise Me Up” was performed by Tyrone McAllister of the Asbury Park PD.
The version below is by the Celtic Woman:
Modern OG history: 2013. Grand multi-media concert celebrating Verdi’s birth to be presented in the Great Auditorium on September 21., 2013. What OG is capable of…
Posted in Great Auditorium Musical Event, Ocean Grove Musical Event, tagged Giuseppe Verdi's 200th anniversary concert, Jason Tramm conducts Verdi event in the Great Auditorium, MidAtlantic Opera in Ocean Grove, Verdi extravaganza in Ocean Grove on June 17, 2025|
Maestro Jason Tramm will conduct the Verdi extravaganza in the GA
By Paul Goldfinger, Editor Blogfinger.net. Ocean Grove, NJ, USA
Jason Tramm and the new MidAtlantic Opera will present “Verdiana,” a concert and multi-media gala celebrating the 200th Anniversary of Giuseppe Verdi’s birth. The event will be presented in Ocean Grove’s Great Auditorium on Saturday, September 21. It is attracting a great deal of press interest.
Maestro Tramm is no longer with the NJ State Opera. He is launching this new opera company with the goal of bringing high-quality professional opera productions to the region.
We all know Jason Tramm as the Director of Music Ministries in the Grove each summer, but, when not working here, he keeps busy teaching and conducting at Seton Hall University.
The concert on Sept 21 will feature six renowned soloists, a choir from Seton Hall and a 40 piece orchestra. Arias, ensembles and choruses from a variety of Verdi operas will be performed. Among the soloists is our own Ronald Naldi, a tenor who performs with the Metropolitan Opera.
Soprano Christina Major will be one of the soloists.
Noted author, filmmaker and Verdi devotee August Ventura will speak about the composer during the performance.
Tickets are all $25.00 and may be ordered online at http://www.oceangrove.org.
CAMPAGNE D’OPERA ITALIANA ORCHESTA : Verdi aria
Modern OG history: 2015. Doo Wops return this season. The password at the door of the Great Auditorium is “Shaboom shaboom.”
Posted in Great Auditorium Musical Event, Ocean Grove Musical Event, tagged DOO WOPS IN OCEAN GROOVE on April 28, 2025| 2 Comments »
Saturday night, summer 2011. Doo Wops at the Great Auditorium. Paul Goldfinger aerial photo. Blogfinger.
Paul Goldfinger, Blogfinger.net.
We got this from Shelly Belusar (CMA) who knows where to find these ancient stars and the young people who are filling in, sometimes with startling and revelatory interpretations of this music, which always tries to answer the perennial question, “Why can’t I be a teenager in love?” Or, a close second, “When do we get a slow dance?”
2015 Doo Wop lineup:
June 27– Jay Siegel’s Tokens, The Chantels, Cleveland Still’s &The Dubs, Vito Picone &The Elegants.
Sept. 5– Gene Chandler (The Duke of Earl), The Crystals, Lenny Coco & The Chimes, Bill Haley Jr. &The Comets.
Here’s a taste of what’s coming: It’s the TOKENS: Try to clap along. See if you have music in your soul.
THE DUBS:
THE TOKENS. “The Lion Sleeps Tonight.” See comments.
A unique perspective on the Choir Festival: from up in the loft.
Posted in Great Auditorium Musical Event, Music from the movies, Ocean Grove Camp Meeting Association Activity, tagged Choir Festival in Ocean Grove on September 30, 2024| 1 Comment »
View from the choir loft in the Great Auditorium. By Ted Aanensen, Blogfinger staff photographer. 2013 Ocean Grove, NJ, USA
ALISON KRAUSS From the soundtrack of “Oh Brother, Where Art Thou.”
Modern OG history—- 2013: The Doo Wops are coming this Saturday night to the Great Auditorium
Posted in Great Auditorium Musical Event, Photograph by Paul Goldfinger, tagged Saturday night in Ocean Grove on July 17, 2024| 1 Comment »
The Great Auditorium . A Saturday night, summer 2013. Anne and Eileen. Paul Goldfinger photo .
THE DELL VIKINGS
Modern OG history: Johnny Mathis Triumphs in the Great Auditorium. 2014.
Posted in Great Auditorium Musical Event, tagged Johnny Mathis show in the Great Auditorium on August 11, 2023| 5 Comments »
Big crowd for the Mathis show on Saturday, August 23, 2014
By Paul Goldfinger, Editor @Blogfinger
At the age of 78, Johnny Mathis is still capable of putting on a great show, full of music that suits his style of, as he calls it, “mushy music.” Basically Mathis is not a jazz man, a doo wop guy, a Broadway star, a bluesy Sinatra wannabe or a Vegas lounge act. Instead, Mathis is what he always has been, a purveyor of ballads—ie “make out”music. But he has lots of fans, because an estimated 3,500 people filled the hall and the balconies.
Last night at the Great Auditorium, he gingerly strolled onto the stage and did one hit after another, with essentially no banter in between. He has never been known to have an effervescent personality, but there is something honest, endearing and kind about him. He introduced some of the musicians who have worked with him for years—-some for 10-30 years or more.
At one point the fire sirens kicked in while he was singing. He gamely went on, and then, when the song and the sirens were over, he smiled and said, “That was almost in my key.” He arrived with a 30 piece full orchestra which was fine, except for times when they turned into an amplified bugle corps. There is no reason for a single singer performing with an orchestra full of violins, woodwinds, etc, to be amplified. At one point they managed to insert electrical backup singers into a live number. What the heck is that all about? The GA is supposed to have superb acoustics. Even Tony Bennet acknowledged that as he tried to project a song without a mike.
But Johnny Mathis is a true miracle man because his voice, although not quite as good as it used to be, is still wonderful wonderful. And chances are that he will continue performing around the world. Most of his music is famous , and the crowd loved it. I disliked the opening number which was loud and incoherent; evidently trying to emulate a Vegas opening.
Johnny Mathis loves samba music. The part I liked the best was at the end when he became the Brazilian ambassador of music, and the orchestra got into that Latin groove as well. He concluded with a sparkling samba version of “Brazil.”
It’s not for me to say, but I hope he returns before the 12th of never and brings Gina with him.
Update 2023. Mathis continues to perform at age 87. He will be at Caesars in AC in October 2023.
P.S : And just a brief criticism for the CMA program planners: On stage was a professional orchestra and the 11,000 pipe Hope-Jones organ, but when it came time for the Star Spangled Banner, a trio of singers walked on stage and sang it acapella. What a disappointment compared to what that would have sounded like with the musicians on stage joining the organ and the big crowd to bring us a majestic version of our national anthem.
Here is a link to a 2010 BF post about the business of arranging the Saturday night summer shows in the GA
http://blogfinger.net/2012/09/10/theres-no-business-like-show-business-in-the-great-auditorium/
And, heeeeer’s Johnny:
Say Goodnight Gordon
Posted in Great Auditorium Musical Event, tagged Gordon Turk musician on June 22, 2023|
Gordon Turk says goodnight to the audience after a fine Labor Day concert. Paul Goldfinger photo.
YVES MONTAND
Modern OG history: Doo Wops in Ocean Grove. Are they permanently banned? Re-post from 2013 and a 2023 update.
Posted in Blogfinger News, Great Auditorium Musical Event, Ocean Grove Camp Meeting Association Activity, tagged Doo Wops in Ocean Grove, Doo Wops still kicking, Kenny Vance, Shirley Alston Reeves, The Duprees on April 30, 2023| 4 Comments »
Pat Brenan of Neptune has been attending every Planotone concert for thirty years, dressed as Kenny and his guys do. Paul Goldfinger photo 9/7/13. Ocean Grove, NJ. Great Auditorium.
By Paul Goldfinger, who wrote the Book of Love, and Editor of Blogfinger.net
2013: The official count for last night’s Doo Wops concert was 2,700, but it sure looked like more than that—downstairs practically all seats occupied, and the balcony seats about 1/3 full. The crowd was wide awake, alive and well. We lost count of the standing O’s, whistles, shouts and applause.
Each of the three performing groups thanked the audience for helping to keep a musical era alive—an era of nostalgic, romantic and understandable music. This was music that you could dance slow with, under low twinkling lights in gyms decorated with crepe paper.
That music, in OG last night, clearly was attracting some people who were born after the actual Doo Wop times of 1950’s going into the ’60’s when it helped form the basis for rock and roll.
The Beatles found inspiration in performers including Little Richard, Buddy Holly, Jerry Lee Lewis, the Drifters and many others.
Last night, the show opened with the Duprees–not my idea of a Doo Wop act now, but they are polished performers. The Duprees have had many hits during their 50 year history (1962-2012) and they do put on a musically excellent show, and they are an example of a traditional group that has modernized their act. Unfortunately the loudness of their presentation sometimes made the music a bit muddy. The personnel of this group has changed many times over the years. The current group are all fine singers.
The Duprees are celebrating their 50th anniversary with a new album. (2012), and I did like their rendition last night of the Bobby Darin hit “Beyond the Sea” from that album.
THE DUPREES, from their 50th anniversary album with “Behind the Sea.”
When the CMA decided to end secular performances in the GA, we were already seeing modernizing of the doowop music. Some groups brought in female voices to replace wobbly falsettos of the old timers, many of whom were ready for a bed at the Rock and Roll Hall of fame.
And, the CMA has recently re-done their sound system—-thank goodness.
KENNY VANCE has had a long career dating back to the fifties. He is now 79 years old and was a yearly favorite in the Great Auditorium. But he has modernized his performances as evidenced by his album. (2017) Lost and Found—Archives volume I. His version of “Tears on My Pillow” shows how this music can be made alive again, and he has a volume II as well. I wish he could be seen live again in Ocean Grove.
—Paul Goldfinger, Music Editor @Blogfinger.net
OG modern history: Imperial Brass with Phil Smith presents a first rate concert in the Great Auditorium, July 3, 2015.
Posted in Blogfinger Presents, Great Auditorium Musical Event, Ocean Grove Musical Event, tagged MUSIC. Phil Smith and the Imperial Brass on March 1, 2023| 1 Comment »
Phil Smith played “You Made Me Love You” with the Imperial Brass. Paul Goldfinger photo © Click to enlarge.
By Paul Goldfinger. Editor Blogfinger.net. March 1,2023:
This is another example of the sort of programming that creates good will for the CMA. This concert was part of the Summer Stars series which the CMA is continuing . They need to return to that travelled road that helps make the CMA popular with the majority secular resident community as well as with visitors who come to town not for religious reasons but because they love to visit the Grove, stroll our neighborhoods, walk on the boards, photograph our restored historic homes and tents, and chat with our citizens who are friendly to outsiders as they relax on their porches.
In fact porch concerts, as occur in Asbury Park, should be done here as we shift gears to a more hospitable small town secular atmosphere while supporting the CMA to be successful here as well. That is a better plan for the future of the CMA rather than the “no win” idea of a predominant Christian Seashore town a la 1869.
The concert last night was brilliant. There were about 25 wonderful brass musicians on stage. Imagine an ensemble with 5 flugelhorns?
The pieces chosen for the event were varied—some obscure (at least to me), some complex, and some familiar, but they were all performed with a high degree of professionalism, emotion and care. Despite some problems with clarity of the microphone, it only affected speech.
The music, performed with exquisite clarity and musicianship, was unamplified and enhanced by the great skill and respect afforded it by these musicians.
Phil Smith, of Ocean Grove, former principal trumpet with the New York Philharmonic, not only played, but he conducted as well, although not simultaneously.
His gorgeous tone resonated with the wooden interior of the Great Auditorium. That refers to the famous acoustics in the GA—loved by musicians and audiences alike. His technique was superb, and he got to show it off along with cornetist Mitch Brodsky in an intricate rendition of the “Cornet Duet” by Peter Graham.
This concert, the first of the 2015 Summer Stars series of classical music in the Great Auditorium, was well attended.
The Summer Stars recitals occur on Thursday nights at 7:30 pm. On July 9 is Yun-Chin Zhou, an acclaimed pianist; on July 16 Maksim Shirykov and Misuzu Tanaka—clarinet and piano duo; and on July 23, is the Solisti String Ensemble.
On July 30 will be a very special event: Gordon Turk, organist and Jason Tramm conducting the Summer Stars Festival Orchestra with “Grand Orchestra and the Great Organ.”
PHIL SMITH: A recording of “Someone to Watch Over Me”. Phil has played this Gershwin masterpiece live in the Great Auditorium on a number of occasions in the past