Street Scenes - New York and New Jersey ©1998 JCMarion
There were many opportunities to see the great vocal groups in their prime in
the New York metro area. There were of course the theaters that hosted the radio
disc jockey revues - The Brooklyn Paramount, home of most of the Alan Freed
shows, Loew's State near Times Square where Freed and Jocko held forth, the
old vaudeville house on 14th street called at that time the New York Academy
of Music which was home for a Freed show, and the landmark Apollo in Harlem,
home of many R & B revues and home to Dr. Jive and Hal Jackson shows. But
there were other places where the sound of the harmonizing groups held forth.
One of these was the wonderfully named Rockland Palace in Harlem, where Dr.
Jive (Tommy Smalls) put on an early R & B revue to compete with Alan Freed's
first big show at the Brooklyn Paramount. Another venue in Harlem that saw some
stage show talent was St. Nicholas Arena. The most famous date there was the
first Alan Freed show after he came to New York's station WINS. I remember St.
Nick's as a big old barn and heard that it was the site of many professional
prize fights over the years, but that magical night in January of 1955 it was
the center of the universe. It was my indoctrination into the world of R &
B performers, the likes of which I had never seen.
Another part of the big city that was
the scene of many musical moments during the heyday of the vocal groups was
in the Bronx-The Hunt's Point Palace. This was known mostly as a mambo fiend's
hangout in the early fifties rivaling Manhattan's Palladium for that honor.
This was also a place for jazz and early fifties R & B shows. I used to
live in the neighborhood of the big room which was located on Southern Blvd.
near 163rd street. A big Saturday was catching a movie at the Spooner and then
head for the Palace to hear groups such as the Limelighters, Ladders, and Rob
Roys. In the borough of Queens, one place that I remember seeing vocal groups
do their stuff was at Lost Battalion Hall. One particular show back in 1956
was a benefit show with many amateur and professional vocal groups and performers.
The Cleftones were supposed to be the headliners but they begged off at the
last moment and were replaced by The Velours, which was fine with me since I
had seen the Cleftones many times, but this was my first (and as it turned out
my only) time to see Jerome Ramos and his boys.
If you were adventurous and loved the music enough back in the mid fifties,
you would even find your way across the Hudson River to Newark, New Jersey.
The biggest city in the state was also a hotbed of doowop activity in those
days. The big hall was the Mosque Theater in the middle of the city. Whenever
they could stage a revue without going into the Big Apple, the Mosque was the
place. Some of the NJ radio deejays held their shows there such as Ramon Bruce
and Jocko Henderson. Another place that held some great musical moments was
the High Street Community Center. The Center ran a program for local talent
that featured many area groups and performers. One visit to the center provided
great memories of seeing the Young Lads and possibly the Metronomes (the memories
are a little hazy over the years). A friend and I also tried to gain entry to
a famous NJ night spot called Major's Lounge in an attempt to see the Five Pennies,
but we weren't even close to being 21 so it was see 'ya later, alligator !
These were some of the places in and
around the city of New York that featured the sound of the rhythm & blues
vocal groups during the vintage years of the mid fifties.