Trombone soloist with the Summer Swing big band. Embury Avenue block party comes alive with Glenn Miller’s “American Patrol” (below). Photos by Paul Goldfinger. Videos by Eileen Goldfinger. Blogfinger.net
By Paul Goldfinger, Editor Blogfinger.net
It was Saturday, September 15, at 5 p.m., 2012, and the neighbors on Embury Avenue, near the beach, were about to enjoy their annual block party. But this year they planned something very different; in fact,so different that it undoubtedly was a first in the history of the town. They arranged to have seven live bands perform while the neighbors ate, danced and enjoyed the show until late in the evening.
Audience begins to assemble for the largest block party musical event in OG history. Left click for full view
The prime mover for the event was Embury resident Cheryl Parker, a vocalist who performs with many of the groups that she recruited for the block party. There were three “big bands” and four jazz combos. The big bands specialized in “swing” music, mostly from the 1940’s, and they set up in a driveway. The small combos performed on a porch, while the audience sat at tables in the street and on front lawns, which are common on the beach blocks.
We got to talk to some of the members of “Summer Swing,” a band from the Redington, New Jersey area, near Flemington. They’ve been together for 17 years, and their instrumentation consists of five saxes, four bones, four trumpets, piano, bass, guitar and drums. John Nobile is the leader. He has some contemporary arrangements, but the sound of the big bands is their main concern. — Paul Goldfinger
The song being played by “Summer Swing” below is “The American Patrol.”
Paul Goldfinger St. Emilion, France. Dordogne region. Growers of Bordeaux wine. Silver gelatin dark room print by the photographer. Click once for full view.
SIDNEY BECHET (soprano sax) with “Si Tu Vois Ma Mere” from the Woody Allen film Midnight in Paris.
By Paul Goldfinger (Editor @Blogfinger and owner of a Sousa fan fan)
Prior to the orchestral concert on July 29, 2010 in the GA, Mr. John Shaw, the Hope-Jones organ curator, stood before the audience to offer a prayer and to introduce the program. He also mentioned something that was potentially intriguing to those who are interested in music and Ocean Grove history. He said, and I paraphrase, “Exactly one hundred years ago, John Phillip Sousa and Enrico Caruso appeared together on this stage.” But Mr. Shaw did not elaborate.
John Phillip Sousa
Enrico Caruso
So, here is the Blogfinger Historical Fiction Contest springing to life. Send us a brief (no more that 4 sentences) account of what those two musical giants were doing on the stage of the GA in 1910. The top three winners will receive an original Ocean Grove car magnet. (For those of you who want a magnet but do not want to participate, you can buy them at News ‘n Such on Main Avenue)
Here is the first entry by P Goldfinger who is not eligible for a prize:
1910: Enrico Caruso, the great tenor, hit a high note last week at the Met and hurt his groin. He came to the Grove for some R and R, staying at the Abbott House. His old buddy J.P. Sousa was playing a concert in the Great Auditorium and he called Caruso up to the stage to take a bow and to sit in the piccolo section for the playing of “The Stars and Stripes Forever.” Caruso, who could not play the piccolo, was content to hum along.
Photos and text by Paul Goldfinger. Editor Blogfinger.net. South Carolina. (Re-post 2013)
FEMA has named four corporations as the top companies in the U.S. for disaster preparation. They are Home Depot, Loews, Wal-Mart and the Waffle House chain of fast food restaurants. FEMA has been so impressed by the Waffle House company that they have created the “Waffle House Index” which is a metric that they use to informally guage the severity of a disaster.
Inside a Georgia Waffle House along Route 95. All photos by Paul Goldfinger, Blogfinger.net.
A North Carolina Waffle House.
Waffle House is a privately held company based in Georgia. They have 1,700 outlets in 20 states across the south and along the Atlantic corridor from the Carolinas down to Florida. Their restaurants stay open 24/7 and they are known for fresh, fast home cooked food. Waffle House restaurants do not advertise and they have achieved some cult status, being mentioned in movies ( a scene in“The Tin Cup”,) country songs, web sites and comedy routines. Traveling musicians, athletes and police love to stop there, and down south they call it a “cultural icon.” Each unit has a juke box and they strive to use diner lingo such as “scattered” hash browns, meaning spread out on the grill.
Much of their notoriety is because they try to never close during disasters such as hurricanes. They have manuals to guide their employees towards that goal. All the units have generators and other special equipment and they are prepared and supplied to continue cooking and making ice no matter what.
The WH Index was developed by FEMA in 2011 after several catastrophic Class 5 tornados struck in Joplin, Missouri, and 5 of the WH stores managed to stay open when everything else closed.
After a disaster, FEMA checks how the Waffle Houses are doing and they use a color code depending on whether the restaurants are serving a full menu, a limited menu or if they are code red (ie closed.) The commitment of the Waffle House company is so strong that FEMA knows that things are bad if Waffle House can’t function. We spoke to some of their employees who verified that pride and commitment.
Eileen and I stopped at a few of their units in the Carolinas and Georgia. They are small places with lively and pleasant staffs. A couple of times we went in at sunrise, and it was like an oasis with the lights on and the personnel ready.
The shops are spotless, and all the workers wear clean starched uniforms. The cooking is done in the open. The cook faces the stainless steel grill and has a basket of eggs in front. She cooks the eggs in small fry pans reminiscent of what you have at home, and great care is given to prepare your food just the way you want it. She flips the eggs into the air and catches them without any breakage—I think it makes them taste better.
The waitresses discuss your order with the cook, while you watch the action. It seems so comforting to be in one of these restaurants, especially if it is dark out and you’re on a journey.
As far as Hurricane Milton is concerned, many Waffle Houses have closed creating a red alert for them. But they have generators and they will reopen as soon as possible.
PAUL ANKA BRINGS VEGAS TO THE GREAT AUDITORIUM. SUMMER 2011. Blogfinger reports:
Paul Anka in the Great Auditorium. Photo by Tracey James, Blogfinger staff.
By Paul Goldfinger, Editor Blogfinger.net
Shelley Belusar, who books the acts for the CMA, was amazed when Paul Anka’s crew arrived at the GA on Saturday morning. He brought a synchronized production team that included sound, lighting and staging personnel. They set up a massive backdrop of drapes that turned out to be dazzling light reflectors. They placed small platforms around the auditorium for Anka to stand on as he moved through the room, and they prepared a multimedia presentation that recreated Vegas.
When Anka came on stage, he was surrounded by a 12 piece orchestra. The allocation of musicians was a bit peculiar: 2 trombones, 1 sax, 3 trumpets, synthesizer and a bongo player—in addition to the mandatory piano, bass, drum and guitar. But they were a superb stage band with a big brassy sound. The show was a model of professionalism, showmanship and glitz. The program included a wide array of musical styles, performed with great zest and skill; it was a satisfying show in terms of musicianship. Among the best songs were Mack the Knife, For Once in my Life, Jump, She’s a Lady, It Doesn’t Matter Any More, and many other famous hits.
We tend to think of Paul Anka as a rock and roll kid whose friends included performers like Buddy Holly and Annette Funicello, but those years passed and Anka became a show business great whose mentor was Frank Sinatra and whose friends included the big stars of that Copacabana, Las Vegas, New York-New York and Hollywood era. Over the last half century, in addition to performing, he wrote music for many stars besides himself, including the theme song for the Tonight Show.
Last night, Paul, dressed in a dark three piece suit, shirt and tie, was a dynamo for 1 1/2 hours of pure energetic entertainment. He is tan, trim and fit, and his voice is still magnificent. You couldn’t avoid imagining Frank Sinatra on stage, because Paul Anka is built like Frank, sounds like him and even has mannerisms like “old blue eyes.”
A remarkable element to Anka’s performance is his enthusiasm. He seemed to be having a wonderful time as he went out into the audience and interacted with the crowd in a way that had a few thousand people standing, shouting, whistling and even running up and down the aisles.
Paul Anka works the large crowd in the GA. Photo by Tracey James
The show was less about his famous hits (“Diana, Put Your Head on My Shoulder, etc.”) than it was about music from his entire career. He paid tribute to Sinatra, Bobby Darin, Van Halen and Sammy Davis, Jr.
A giant screen came down several times to show photos of himself as a chubby kid and then a teen-age heart-throb. He showed a movie performance of Sammy Davis singing an Anka song, “Let Me Try Again,” and then, in a brilliant staging maneuver, the band and Anka seamlessly joined in that performance from fifty years ago . It was thrilling.
Here’s Paul Anka with a song from his album “Live in Las Vegas.” He sang “For Once in My Life” last night in the GA.
EDITOR’S NOTE: Congratulations to Shelley and the CMA for bringing this exciting show to the GA. It should be noted that Paul Anka, like Tony Bennett, remarked on the uniqueness of the Great Auditorium. Performers love the structure, the crowd and the acoustics. Parking gets tight on such a Saturday night, but the concerts tend to be only about 2 hours long.
By Paul Goldfinger, Editor@ Blogfinger.net. BF re-post from 2013.
Tony Martin was a handsome crooner who always performed in a tux. He was married to a gorgeous dancer, Cyd Charisse. I was with my parents in New York City when we spotted Tony and Cyd. Mom made me go over and get her autograph (Tony was in a phone booth). I should have asked her to dance, but I was ten.
The ’50’s and ’60’s were a time when ballroom dancing was popular. People took lessons and learned fancy dances like the merengue and the mambo, but ultimately, at its core, dancing was about sex; let’s face it–especially the slow numbers. So it’s not surprising that the song below became very popular. It’s interesting that most of the recordings were by men, except for the sultry Peggy Lee.
I had forgotten about this tune until Sunday night when the provocative HBO show “Girls” closed its latest episode with this old song. Of course it was a new version of that old song. The lyric bore some resemblance to the plot line, although there was no dancing in the script.
I tried to find a version that was a little different than those tired old recordings and I found this one by Stuffy Shmitt, a contemporary performer who likes to cross over from one era to another.
“When we are dancing
And you’re dangerously near me
I get ideas, I get ideas”
Coleman Hawkins with Miles Davis at the 3 Deuces Club in New York, c. 1947. From the Library of Congress
This song is beautiful. It lends itself to low lights and slow dancing. Many great performers have recorded it, but I have never liked the lyrics much. That’s because the message is murky.
The singer tells how much he/she loves the recipient of the song: so much that he/she would “die for you,” ”tear the stars down from the skies for you,” and even ”move the earth for you.”
But then he/she declares, “If that isn’t love, it will have to do…until the real thing comes along.”
What a let down! How ungrateful can you get? Is there no way possible that love can be proven? It’s annoying.
That’s why this song is being presented here without the words — only the big fat tenor sound of Coleman Hawkins, aka “Hawk,” who was born in Missouri and died in New York City (1904-1969). Make up your own lyrics. — Paul Goldfinger
Laura and Lydia Rogers are really sisters from Muscle Shoals, Alabama. They are country singers who have been performing together since they were kids in church and with their very musical family. In 2010 they released their first album which contained this song, written by Laura, called “Tennessee Me.”
They are very traditional young ladies who made their first album on analogue equipment using one old fashioned microphone. This past week they performed in concert on Public Television together with T-Bone Burnett , Jacob Dylan, Elvis Costello, and an ensemble of excellent musicians including the superb steel guitar player Robbie Turner. They are currently working on their second album. This music isn’t what you usually hear at the Country Music Awards where there is a lot of fusion going on. The Secret Sisters’ choice of songs takes you back to another era. –Paul Goldfinger
NOTE: There is a young woman named Lorraine O”Brien who grew up in Ocean Grove but eventually wound up in Los Angeles. She is Executive Vice President of a company that brings “Broadway to Hollywood.”
She and her parents and 3 sisters lived in a sprawling Victorian a block away from our house at Mt. Hermon Way and Delaware. And they have kept their OG home for over 40 years .
But Lorraine always finds her way back to the Grove. Recently she moved with her husband to a farm in Tennessee.
And now Lorraine has reappeared, and she likes to follow Blogfinger to keep in touch with town. So we were chatting and I was trying to recall some songs I had used which mention Tennessee.
I found one post from 2013 which featured a song called “Tennessee Me”. But Lorraine didn’t know it. After all, it’s not a show tune.
Are men and women wired differently? Perhaps you have seen the new HBO show “Girls.” It’s tough but eye-opening.
So consider this conversation in the Paul Simon song “Quality,” below, from the 1998 show “Songs From The Capeman”:
He: The way you move
It’s got quality
Come on baby, let’s go downtown
Little girl, you sure look good to me
The way you move
It’s got quality
Come on baby now don’t be shy
Step in the light so I can see
The way you move
It’s got quality
She: I want to know
Are you my beautiful young boy
Or just another love
Passing through my life
I need to know
Will you be my sorrow and my joy
And maybe one day soon
Will I be your wife.
Did you see the show “The Fantasticks?” We did, twice. We took our two sons when they were little and then when they became men. The show was still playing in Greenwich Village, so we went and sat in the same seats.
Why am I telling you this? Well, today Eileen took a picture of radishes. She didn’t grow them, but being a Wegwoman, she bought them at Wegmans.
And all of this intersects in this post where we have her photograph of radishes and we have a song called “Plant a Radish” from the original cast album of “The Fantasticks.” It’s about raising kids and gardens. Carl Swenson of Ocean Grove performed all over America in this show. See his comment below.
Radishes. Photograph by Eileen Goldfinger, food editor @Blogfinger. “The Fantasticks” by Harvey Schmidt (music) and Tom Jones (lyrics) ran for 42 years at the Sullivan Street Playhouse. Its themes, story and music are timeless. —Paul Goldfinger
Taylor Swift—ignored in high school; spurned by some jock–wonder where that guy is today.
Repost from 2012 on Blogfinger:
Taylor Swift is a huge pop star. In this song, she is a girl in the band and she’s not being noticed by the guy. It’s hard to believe that when you see her, but that’s how it is. This song can take you back to high school–if you want to go there: —PG
Is that Taylor on the right? She’s dating her clarinet. The guy’s a jerk. Look whom he prefers to her.
Front parlor: Tali Esen sat at his grand piano (left side, by the windows) while Caruso stood in front of the fireplace. All photos by Paul Goldfinger
By Paul Goldfinger and Eileen Goldfinger (home, garden and food editor at Blogfinger.net). Re-post by popular request:
1906 was a marvelous year for Ocean Grove and the Camp Meeting Association. The town attracted huge crowds to the summer events. Photographs of the era showed wall to wall people at the beaches and bathing pavilions. The Great Auditorium, with its 10,000 seat capacity, was one of the first mega-churches, but it also was the home of incredible musical events, with spectacular performances by stars such as John Phillip Sousa and Enrico Caruso.
A well known impresario named Tali Esen Morgan was the man responsible for these ambitious programs which included a children’s chorus of 1000 voices and a 63 piece orchestra. He also was in the process of having the Hope-Jones organ installed in the Auditorium— an important event in the town’s history. The organ made its debut in 1908.
Tali Essen Morgan was a man with big ideas who loved to entertain, and it was in 1906 that he built his magnificent home at 51 Abbott Avenue on a double lot. The design reflected his grandiose personality. It was one of the largest and most beautifully appointed homes in OG, with a layout that was perfect for receiving guests.
Oral history tells us that in c. 1910, Enrico Caruso, the famous tenor, was in town for a concert at the GA. Prior to the event, a group of people gathered in the Morgan front parlor for a recital. Morgan sat at the grand piano while Caruso sang in front of the fireplace. Tali Esen Morgan knew many celebrities and, undoubtedly, many visited his OG summer mansion. He was music director in the Grove from 1901-1918.
Over the years, the house became a convalescent home and a guest house before reverting back to a single family . In the 1930’s Helen Hayes stayed in one of the second floor rooms while she appeared on Broadway in “Victoria Regina” with Vincent Price.
In 2000, the home was purchased by Gayle and Ted Aanensen who filled the house with art, antiques and Gayle’s extensive collections, especially of Beatrix Potter memorabilia. Ted was born in Ocean Grove, and the couple is active in the Historical Society. Gayle is the secretary of the organization and she has written two children’s books about OG history. She says that her writing is “inspired” by the history of her home: “I feel the energy in this house.”
Ted says, “Part of our joy is to save the house for the next generation.” He and Gayle plan to continue their ongoing restoration.
We are featuring the downstairs which consists of the parlor, living room, dining room and kitchen. Pocket doors separate the living room from the parlor. There is a butler’s pantry made of cypress. All the windows, floors, moldings, stained glass and built-ins are original. The kitchen was re-done by prior owners.
Mr. W. Ted Bell, Ocean Grove historian, says, “This home comes complete with a story and an exceptional design—outstanding for its form and function.” He admires the furnishings with “many wonderful things of the period.” Mr. W. T. Bell says that the house has characteristics of several periods including Victorian, Queen Ann and Craftsman.
View from the front parlor into the living room. To the left is a grand curved staircase with antique stained glass windows at the first level.
Coming down the stairs is the front door with this stained glass.
Living room
Dining room with original built-ins. Gayle’s collection of red glass souvenirs from Asbury and the Grove (not shown) reflects the light flowing into the DR.
Butler’s pantry connects the LR and the DR. Cypress woodwork has been stripped to its natural color.
We don’t know what Caruso sang during his recital in the Tali Esen Morgan front parlor, but here is Caruso as he might have sounded that day about one hundred years ago. From the “Pearl Fishers” (Les Pecheurs de Perles: “Mi par d’udir ancor.”) It was composed by Georges Bizet.
