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: