To help celebrate the 150th anniversary of Ocean Grove, NJ, the Ocean Grove Camp Meeting Association will present a rockin’ night of music starring Felix Cavaliere’s Rascals and The Stephen Bishop Band at the community’s Great Auditorium on Friday, July 19, 2019 at 7:30 pm.
A member of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, Songwriters Hall of Fame, Vocal Group Hall of Fame, Grammy Hall of Fame, and a 2015 ASCAP Harry Chapin Legacy Award Winner, Felix Cavaliere is a legendary singer, songwriter, record producer, and musician, renown for his work with The Rascals.
Spotlight Central recently caught up with Cavaliere and asked him about his early beginnings in music, his work with The Rascals, in addition to his upcoming July 19, 2019 concert at the historic Great Auditorium in Ocean Grove.
Spotlight Central: Do you come from a musical family?
Felix Cavaliere: Not really, no. I come from more of a medically-oriented family. My dad was a dentist, my mom was a pharmacist, and all my uncles were doctors.
Spotlight Central: We understand that you started playing classical piano at the age of six, and later switched to Hammond organ. What was the impetus for the switch?
Felix Cavaliere: Well, [laughs] basically, rock and roll! It came into my city through Alan Fried who brought the early beginnings of rock and roll to New York. And, also, I was invited to a club in New Rochelle, NY, where I saw a Hammond organ. It’s a long story, but basically it was a switch from playing classical music to modern pop and rock and roll.
Spotlight Central: So what kind of music were you listening to at that time? Were there any artists or recordings that especially appealed to you?
Felix Cavaliere: In the beginning, of course, I was really limited to classical — my parents really didn’t even want to hear about anything else. But then as I entered junior high, I became exposed to rock and roll, and the good fortune I had was that this was at the very beginning of rock and roll, which was phenomenal. So I heard everything — Fats Domino, Jerry Lee Lewis, Chuck Berry — and I was able to really learn what was going on with this brand new genre.
Spotlight Central: We understand that, early on in your career, you worked as a backup musician for Joey Dee and the Starliters, known for “The Peppermint Twist,” and even went on a European tour with them. How did that prepare you for what was to come?
Felix Cavaliere: What happened was, I was a college student, and I left for a summer to work with a band at a hotel in the Catskills. And Joey Dee and the Starliters came into that hotel as headliners and found me. Within the next few months, when school was back in session, I really didn’t want to go back — I wanted to try and be a professional musician — and they invited me to go to Europe with them because their organist had quit. So the good luck was that we got to work with The Beatles before The Beatles were even known in America.
Spotlight Central: And then you and several members of the Starliters formed The Young Rascals, which ultimately became The Rascals. How did the band come upon its first #1 hit “Good Lovin’” — which is not a song that you wrote.
Felix Cavaliere: It’s a very simple story. In the early days of nightclubs, we were not allowed to do originals; we were told to do covers. So I would listen to obscure radio stations to try to find fantastic songs, and I heard that one and said, “OK, I’m gonna go out and buy the 45” — that way, I could prove to the club owner that this was not something I made up; this was a real record. And that one, from the first day we played it, was received royally.
Spotlight Central: And after “Good Lovin’,” you and Eddie Brigati were responsible for writing so many of The Rascals’ hits — “You Better Run,” “Groovin’,” “How Can I Be Sure,” “A Girl Like You,” “A Beautiful Morning,” “People Got to Be Free” — and more. Had you ever written songs before that or was this something that was brand new for you at the time?
Felix Cavaliere: I was always writing something creative, but basically I didn’t know what to do with those songs. Don’t forget, this was in the beginning when Bob Dylan started writing, The Beatles started writing, and The Lovin’ Spoonful started writing — so everybody was writing at that time — but it was kind of a new world because prior to that, you had to go to a publisher to get your songs. But, yes, I was already writing at the time.
Spotlight Central: And then, after The Rascals, you became a successful producer who worked on one of our favorite recordings, Laura Nyro’s Christmas and the Beads of Sweat. How did you enjoy working with Laura and such notable musicians as The Allman Brothers’ Duane Allman and even Alice Coltrane — the wife of jazz saxophonist John Coltrane — on that project?
Felix Cavaliere: It was a joy working on projects that had the talent those people brought to the studio — it was really a joy. Fortunately for me, music has always been a joy to do, rather than a profession — a job. So I have to say, I enjoyed every single moment of that experience.
Spotlight Central: And moving on into the ’80s you had a hit with “Only a Lonely Heart Sees,” and in the ’90s toured with Ringo Starr and his All-Star Band. In the 2000s, you recorded two acclaimed albums with Steve Cropper. What was it like working with the guy who wrote “Sittin On the Dock of the Bay” with Otis Redding and “In the Midnight Hour” with Wilson Pickett?
Felix Cavaliere: Well, Steve has been a resident of Nashville, and I am, too, and basically sooner or later, down here, you get together to start writing. So we started writing, and this gentleman we were working with said, “Why don’t you go out and get a record deal?” Now, neither of us were thinking of doing that in the least, but it worked, and it was fun! We really didn’t tour — it really might have been more successful had we done that — but he’s all tied up with his things and I’m all tied up with mine.
Spotlight Central: You’re going to be performing at the Great Auditorium in Ocean Grove, NJ on July 19 with Stephen Bishop. What can audience members expect to experience at this performance?
Felix Cavaliere: Very simply, what I try to do — and I use this as part of my show — is bring back the kind of mood that was around in those days when our music was out. And — how should I put this? — it was kind of like a “love fest” between the people in the audience and the music. You know, in those days, we didn’t have the internet and Facebook and all that stuff — we not only listened to the music that was coming from England and from America as fans, but we all really felt we were a part of that world. And that’s what I try to recreate.
Spotlight Central: So you’re saying you’re going to do a lot of songs people will know — and they’re going to have a great time!
Felix Cavaliere: Exactly! We ask them to sing, we ask them to get involved — and they really do — and that’s something we all need today: a little fun!
Felix Cavaliere’s Rascals and The Stephen Bishop Band will perform on Friday, July 19, 2019 at 7:30 pm at The Great Auditorium, located at Pilgrim and Ocean Pathways in Ocean Grove, NJ. Reserved tickets are $25-$65; general admission tickets (purchased at the door) are $20. Get tickets by phone at 732–775–0035, ext. 112, or online at oceangrove.org. All facilities are handicapped accessible.
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