New Jersey Stage logo
New Jersey Stage Menu


A Chat with Gary Puckett as The Happy Together Tour Comes to BergenPAC, Tuesday, Aug 16th!


By Spotlight Central, Photos by Love Imagery

originally published: 08/14/2016

A Chat with Gary Puckett as The Happy Together Tour Comes to BergenPAC, Tuesday, Aug 16th!

The 2016 edition of the world-famous Happy Together Tour makes a stop at The Bergen Performing Arts Center (BergenPAC) in Englewood, NJ, on Tuesday, Aug. 16, 2016. Starring The Turtles featuring Flo & Eddie, The Spencer Davis Group, Chuck Negron of Three Dog Night, Mark Lindsay of Paul Revere & the Raiders, The Cowsills, and Gary Puckett & the Union Gap, this show is a joyful blast-from-the-past of classic ‘60s and ‘70s hits from beginning to end!

Headlining this year’s edition of the Happy Together Tour is The Turtles, featuring lead singers, Howard Kaylan and Mark Volman, better known as Flo & Eddie. Originally members of Frank Zappa’s Mothers of Invention, Kaylan and Volman went on to achieve pop stardom as The Turtles with such enduring hits as “She’d Rather Be with Me,” “You Know What I Mean,” “Elenore,” “You Showed Me” and of course, “Happy Together.”

Spencer Davis, who hails from Wales, founded the famed Spencer Davis Group in the 1960s, producing a dozen top 10 hit songs including “Somebody Help Me,” “I’m a Man,” “Keep On Running,” and “Gimme Some Lovin.’”

Chuck Negron was a founding member of Three Dog Night. While Chuck was with the group, they had 21 Top 40 hits, eight Top 10 hits and four #1 hits including “One” (Is the Loneliest Number), “Old Fashioned Love Song,” “Eli’s Comin’,” and “Joy to the World.”

The lead singer of Paul Revere & The Raiders, Mark Lindsay, helped his group put such songs on the charts as “Just Like Me,” “Kicks,” “Good Thing,” and “Indian Nation (The Lament of the Cherokee Reservation Indian).” After leaving The Raiders, Mark also had a very successful solo recording career with such top 40 hits as “Arizona.”



 
Advertise with New Jersey Stage for $50-$100 per month, click here for info



The real-life inspiration behind the hit television series The Partridge Family, The Cowsills were one of the biggest pop acts of the late ’60s. Distinguished by their great family harmonies, their hits include “Hair,” “Indian Lake,” and “The Rain, The Park, and Other Things” (aka “I Love the Flower Girl”).

Gary Puckett & The Union Gap was one of the most successful musical groups of the sixties. Gary’s signature voice helped the group garner six consecutive gold records with such memorable hits as “Young Girl,” “Woman Woman,” “Lady Willpower,” “Over You,” and “This Girl is a Woman Now.”

Spotlight Central recently had a chance to chat with Gary Puckett about his upcoming appearance at BergenPAC. Not only did he discuss performing with the Happy Together Tour, but he also talked about his favorite Gary Puckett & The Union Gap song, the origin of his group’s name and well-known uniforms, and about some of his musical influences — including at least one favorite singer he feels just might surprise many of his fans.

Spotlight Central: We’ve had an opportunity to see you perform here in New Jersey before so we’re wondering how you enjoy performing here in the Garden State?

Gary Puckett: I’ve got many, many fans in New Jersey and I love to come here because the fans in New Jersey are among the best — they’re exuberant and they’re here to be entertained. They’re not here to say, “OK, show me if you can still sing”; instead, they’re here to smile with you and sing along! So I love coming to New Jersey any chance I can.

 

SC: What should audience members expect at your upcoming Happy Together Tour show at BergenPAC in Englewood?



 
Advertise with New Jersey Stage for $50-$100 per month, click here for info



GP: What they can expect is six powerhouse recording acts and performers from the late-60s and early-70s: The Turtles, Chuck Negron from Three Dog Night, Mark Lindsay from Paul Revere and the Raiders, The Cowsills, Spencer Davis, and my group, Gary Puckett & the Union Gap. And in a two hour and twenty minute show, the people will get to hear 30 hit songs — because that’s all that we are allowed to do: our hit records!— so we’ll play the songs the people know, which makes for a great fun show and everybody just gets a chance to enjoy themselves.

 

SC: What is your own personal favorite Gary Puckett and the Union Gap song?

GP: Well, of the hits, I love them all — because the people love them — but, probably, my favorite is “Woman Woman” because it was our first recording and the memories of recording that song are really indelible in my mind. It was quite an experience — with a 30-piece orchestra surrounding me in a vocal booth — and all that kind of stuff.

And it’s a great song — it’s got a great melody and a great lyric. If you read the lyric without the music, you can see it’s something that all of us in our lives are faced with: when you fall in love with somebody and the person is not as in love with you as you might wish that person to be — I don’t think any of us are exempt from that happening to us. So I think it has a very poignant lyric — and certainly Jerry Fuller, our producer, made a great record out of it — so I just love that song and that’s why it’s still one of my favorites.

 

SC: Not to mention your voice really makes that record, too! And at the time it was a hit, it was not only a song that young people could like, but it was a song that even parents could like, as well.

GP: Yes, that’s the truth! And I see that to this day. A good example took place a few nights ago at the Saint Louis Fair. There was a young lady off to the side of the stage standing there with her dad. And after I did my part of the show, she just stood there excitedly — because she wanted to meet me. So I came over to her and asked, “How old are you?,” and she said, “I’m 23 and I just love this music,” and her dad took some pictures of us. And I’m telling you this to say that this music has crossed the generations really well and I’m so happy that the music that we created — these good songs; these good records — really made it.

 

SC: So what got you interested in music as a kid?



 
Advertise with New Jersey Stage for $50-$100 per month, click here for info



GP: Well, my parents were both musical. My mom played piano — she was a schooled musician and a wonderful pianist. And my dad, too, was a schooled musician — he could read music — and he played the saxophone. And that’s how my parents met — through music. They were also both very good singers in their own right. So music was always a part of our lives and we always had a piano in the house. Mom played the piano every day, and my parents sang together every day. As the family grew, my parents wanted all the kids to have musical backgrounds and, because I was the first, they sat me down at the piano and said, “You are going to have music lessons and learn music appreciation…” but along came rock and roll, which also gave me a music appreciation!

So I had this knowledge of the piano, and then I found a guitar in my grandparents’ attic and I immediately wanted to play it. And by the time I graduated from high school — even though my parents wanted me to go on to higher education — I was attracted to the music scene and I ended up in bands right out of high school and into college. And I had a day job that allowed me to play clubs at night but eventually there came a moment when I quit the day job and said, “I’m gonna go for this and make it happen,” and fortunately, I was able to do that.

 

SC: How did you come up with the name of your band and the idea for the famous Civil War uniforms?

GP: Well, back in the day, I had learned there were a lot of records being pressed that people were hoping to have success with so they were sending out hundreds of these recordings every month to radio stations all around the country. And I thought, “It’s a very, very competitive world and maybe if we have a visual identification, somebody might look at our record and think, ‘Great! Now what does that record sound like?’”

So I came up with the idea of wearing Civil War outfits and immediately, upon thinking about the concept of “Union soldier,” I just went, “Well, Union Gap — that makes sense to me” — because I used to hitchhike as a teenager to Union Gap, WA, to work my Saturday job. So I got our record company to take a picture of us in those uniforms — which they put on our first record. And there was a disc jockey/program director in Columbus, OH, who was a Civil War historian and he said, “This is one great picture! I wonder what this record sounds like?” So my hunch paid off. He loved the record and he played it on his station and it went to #1, so Columbia Records in Cleveland said, “We know how to make this a national hit,” and the next thing you know, we jumped on the charts.

 

SC: As both a guitarist and a vocalist, who does Gary Puckett like to listen to?

GP: There are a lot of guys on guitar that I like and love and appreciate. Robben Ford. Larry Carlton. Jeff Beck. Jimmy Page — along with the rockabilly sorts… the country sorts… the jazz sorts — I like a lot of guitarists.

I like a lot of singers, too. I think some of the best singers — one of them, which might surprise you — is Tom Jones. I think he’s a great singer. Of course, Elvis was a great singer, too. And Johnny Maestro — who was a friend of mine in the last couple of years of his life — in my mind, was one of the greatest singers.

 

SC: Speaking of singing, what projects are you working on these days?

GP: I’m going to be on an album with Engelbert Humperdinck. It’s a “duets” album being produced by a woman named Rebecca Holden. She was the co-star of TV’s Knight Rider. Engelbert is doing a song with her. And so is Tommy James, Jon Secada, Little Anthony from Little Anthony and the Imperials, and many other notable singers. And I’ve been asked to do a song with her and it’s really killer — it’s not out yet — but I know it’s going to be a great project.

 

SC: We’re huge fans of so many of those artists; good luck to all of you! In the meantime, is there anything else you’d like to add?

GP: Well, I just want to let the people know that the Happy Together show is an extremely fun show and one that’s well worth seeing.

A Chat with Gary Puckett as The Happy Together Tour Comes to BergenPAC, Tuesday, Aug 16th!

Don’t miss out on this unforgettable concert which features some of the greatest songs of the ‘60s and ‘70s performed by the original artists who created them! The Happy Together Tour takes over the BergenPAC, 30 North Van Brunt St., Englewood, NJ, on Tuesday, Aug. 16, 2016 at 8pm. Tickets are $129, $89, 79, $59, and $39 and may be purchased by clicking on ticketmaster.com or by calling 201–227–1030. Be there and be happy!


Photos by Love Imagery

Spotlight Central. Your source for Jersey entertainment news and reviews

Love Imagery Fine Art Photography. all you need. peace/love/flower/power



 
Advertise with New Jersey Stage for $50-$100 per month, click here for info




FEATURED EVENTS

ART | COMEDY | DANCE | MUSIC | THEATRE | COMMUNITY


Eric Hutchinson Band

Thursday, March 28, 2024 @ 7:30pm
The Vogel
99 Monmouth Street, Red Bank, NJ 07701
category: music

Click here for full description


Gaelic Storm & the High Kings: The Mighty Tour II

Thursday, March 28, 2024 @ 7:30pm
Count Basie Center for the Arts
99 Monmouth Street, Red Bank, NJ 07701
category: music

Click here for full description


Mary Gauthier w/ special guest Jaimee Harris

Thursday, March 28, 2024 @ 8:00pm
Outpost In The Burbs
40 S Fullerton Ave, Montclair, NJ 07042
category: music

Click here for full description


Click here for more events

Listings are available for $10 and included with our banner ad packages.

Click here for more info.







 

LATEST NEWS


Ocean Casino Resort presents Pat Benatar & Neil Giraldo

(ATLANTIC CITY, NJ) -- Ocean Casino Resort presents Rock and Roll Hall of Famers Pat Benatar & Neil Giraldo on Saturday, July 6, 2024 in Ovation Hall. In a pop culture world defined by its perpetual changes, the partnership of singer songwriter Pat Benatar and producer-musician Neil Giraldo has been a potent, steadfast union that has soared to the top of the charts and into fans' hearts on their own terms. Showtime is 8:00pm.


The Princeton Folk Music Society to Celebrate Pete Seeger's legacy with Professor Allan Winkler




State Theatre New Jersey presents One Night of Queen




The Adelphi Orchestra Presents "Complexity & Simplicity" with SoHyun Ko


Click here for more event previews







New Jersey Stage

© 2024 by Wine Time Media, LLC
PO Box 811, Belmar, NJ 07719
info@newjerseystage.com

Nobody covers the Arts
throughout the Garden State
like New Jersey Stage!


Images used on this site have been sent to us from publicists, artists, and PR firms. If there is a problem with the rights to any image, please contact us and we will look into the matter.

Follow us on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Threads, and on our RSS feed


Art | Comedy | Dance | Film | Music | Theatre | Ad Rates | About Us | Pitch a Story | Links | Radio Shows | Privacy Policy