The public is invited to see the unveiling of 11 plaques (Margaret and Tom Potter share a plaque), which honor the first dozen Asbury Angels, on Sunday, September 23 at 1 p.m. on the Asbury Park Boardwalk at Second Avenue.
The Asbury Angels Foundation is co-sponsored by The Asbury Park Chamber of Commerce, the Light of Day Foundation and the Asbury Park Musical Heritage Foundation.
Inductees for 2012 include: Band leader and famed trombonist Arthur Pryor; concert promoter Moe Septee; West Side pioneers Arthur Morris and Joe Major; Upstage Club owners Tom and Margaret Potter; E Street Band keyboardist Danny Federici; Clarence Clemons, E Street Band saxophone player; Larry "Bozo" Blasco, tour manager and technician; keyboard player Bobby Alfano, a member of many Shore area bands, including Bruce Springsteen's first band, The Castiles; singer-songwriter Bill Chinnock, and bass player John Luraschi, an Upstage Club veteran who was a key part of many Shore groups.
The first 12 members of the music scene who will be honored were selected by a blue-ribbon panel of music industry professionals and historians. Criteria used included significant contribution to the creative music community and impact on that community; the length of time spent on the Asbury Park music scene. Those eligible for induction this year and in future years include musicians, songwriters, disc jockeys, writers, technical support staff and club and venue owners. They must have been deceased at least one year.
Future inductions will be made at The Stone Pony during the Friday night Asbury Angels tribute held as part of Light of Day weekend in Asbury Park in January. The date for this year's Asbury Angels show during Light of Day is Friday, January 18, 2013. Light of Day weekend in Asbury Park includes more than 15 events which raise money for the fight against Parkinson's disease and other neuromuscular disorders.
Arthur Morris, (1916-mid-1960s): One of the unsung heroes of Asbury Park's music scene, according to Charlie and Pam Horner of Classic Urban Harmony, LLC, Arthur Morris played a major role in the development of music in the city in the 1950s and 1960s, serving as a mentor to many of the young performers on the city's predominantly African-American West Side. Born in 1916 in Williston, Fla., near Gainesville, Morris was a migrant worker, coming at times to work in the apple orchards in Colts Neck. He grew fond of New Jersey and decided to move here in 1948, settling in Asbury Park on the West Side. Morris' father was a minister, and in Asbury, Arthur joined the St. Stephen AME Zion Church and formed his first gospel group in the late 1940s. The group, the Golden Harmonaires, became a popular singing group, with Morris singing lead. With the growing popularity of his group, Morris in 1950 approached the Asbury Park radio station WCAP (later to become WJLK) and asked if he could do a weekly gospel radio program. The station agreed, and Morris began hosting "The Gospel Train" from 9 to 11 a.m. on Sundays. The program featured live songs performed by the Golden Harmonaires as well as gospel records by groups like the Dixie Hummingbirds, the Soul Stirrers and the Swan Silvertones. The show also featured advertisements for West Side businesses and became a voice for the West Side community which would remain on the air for 15 years. The radio program's popularity helped draw major gospel acts to Asbury Park, and Morris began promoting his own gospel programs at churches and school auditoriums in Asbury Park, Neptune and Long Branch. His shows included groups like the Soul Stirrers, featuring a young Sam Cooke, the Dixie Hummingbirds, the Harmonizing Four and the Soul Seekers. Morris, who had a dry cleaning business, delegated the running of the business to one of his sons and began working as head of the maintenance department at Asbury Park's Convention Hall by the mid-1950s. His job gave him more contacts in the entertainment business, and he began booking secular shows at Convention Hall and the city's Armory on Bond Street while continuing to book his gospel programs. He helped to bring R&B acts like Baby Washington, the Cadillacs, the Paragons and the Dubs to the city. Morris also mentored many of the city's up and coming singers, including Bobby Thomas and the Vibranaires, the first of the city's vocal groups, who got their start singing on Morris' Sunday program. He also helped the Mar-Keys, featuring future pop star Lenny Welch, with their harmonies. Two of Morris' daughters recorded with the vocal group the Endeavors, and his son, Caleb, sang with a popular Asbury vocal group, The Juveniles. Morris was also a community leader, known as the unofficial "mayor" of the city's West Side. City officials called on Morris frequently whenever an important person of color, be it Dr. Martin Luther King or Jackie Robinson, came to visit Asbury Park. Morris was the man asked to show them around. Arthur Morris passed away in the mid-1960s.
Moe Septee, (1925-1997): Born Moses Septytor in Poland in 1925, Moe Septee came with his family to Newark in 1928. Septytor wrote for the television series "The Eternal Light" co-produced by NBC and the Jewish Theological Seminary. He was advised to change his name if he wanted a career in entertainment and became Moe Septee. He worked in radio and television and had a public relations firm in Newark before he began producing classical music concerts at the Mosque Theatre (later renamed Symphony Hall) and in Philadelphia at the Academy of Music. On May 2, 1961, Septee brought Judy Garland to Newark, where she played to a packed house. By then, Septee and his wife, Ruth, had three young daughters, and he noticed that young people were listening to a different type of music. He booked Joan Baez, then met Bob Dylan and booked him twice. In 1964, he brought The Beatles to Philadelphia. The year before, Septee, whose family had been summering in Belmar and eventually bought a summer home in Deal, noticed Convention Hall and began producing pop music shows there, in partnership with Felix Gerstman. Their first season was not that successful: acts like Ella Fitzgerald, Dave Brubeck and Victor Borge did not sell that many tickets. But Peter, Paul and Mary did sell, and Septee realized that by appealing to younger audiences, his summer concert series could be a success. In 1964 he debuted his "Summer of Stars" series of shows at Convention Hall, which brought the biggest rock names to the 3,500-seat venue. Bands such as The Who, The Rolling Stones, The Doors, the Dave Clark Five, Jimi Hendrix, Janice Joplin, the Temptations, Otis Redding, the Supremes, Black Sabbath, The Beach Boys, James Brown, The Byrds and Ray Charles played at the Hall. On the evening of August 16, 1969, Led Zeppelin played Convention Hall after their manager, Peter Grant, rejected an offer to play at Woodstock. Joe Cocker opened for Zeppelin that night before heading to Bethel, N.Y., for his opening slot on Woodstock's third and final day. Septee was a hands-on producer, distributing posters, selling tickets from the box office, and hiring off-duty Asbury police to provide security. By 1974, Septee was being challenged by young promoter John Scher, who booked shows in the Casino that summer while Septee booked Convention Hall. Septee bowed out of the concert promotion business in Asbury in 1975, giving way to Scher. He became a theatrical producer, bringing shows like "Yentl," "Bubbling Brown Sugar" and "Richard III" with Al Pacino, to the stage. Septee was 71 when he died in 1997.
Tom (1923-1997) and Margaret Potter (-1993, were hairdressers and music lovers who in 1968, changed the face of music in Asbury Park when they opened the Upstage Club above a Thom McAn shoe store on Cookman Avenue at Bond Street. The second floor housed the Green Mermaid Café, while the third floor contained a large room with a bank of speakers by the stage. Music started at 9 p.m. in the Green Mermaid, where Margaret Potter's band, "Margaret and the Distractions," was the house band. At midnight, zoning law required that the club close down and clear out the crowd for awhile, before reopening on the third floor for an all-night jam that lasted from 1 to 5 a.m. Here Jersey Shore musicians gathered to hone their skills, with musicians like Bruce Springsteen, Ricky DeSarno, Bill Chinnock and Billy Ryan, Vini "Mad Dog" Lopez, Big Bad Bobby Williams, Kevin Kavanaugh, Garry Tallent, Danny Federici, Steven Van Zandt, David Sancious and Kevin Kavanaugh joining in loose knit groups to jam all night. "The Upstage was really the birth of the whole Asbury Park scene, the whole idea that the Jersey Shore had something to say musically," according to Robert Santelli, an Upstage regular who is now executive director of the Grammy Museum. Musicians were drawn to the Upstage because it was a place where they were allowed, and encouraged, to experiment, to try new things, to write original music. Filled with fluorescent paintings and a laid-back vibe, the club was a little bit of Haight-Ashbury in Asbury. It closed for good in October 1971, but its influence lives on to this day. Tom and Margaret separated shortly after the club closed and Tom re-located to Florida. Margaret maintained a beauty salon in Asbury Park and later was one of the founding members of the musicians organization SOAP (Society of Associated Performers), which worked to preserve Asbury music legacy, improve conditions for performers, and raise money for charities. Margaret Potter died in 1993, and Tom Potter passed away in 1997.
Joe Arthur Major (1939-1978): Born in St. Petersburg, Fla. In 1939, Joe Major moved to Asbury Park with his mother and sister at age 5. He was later raised by his aunt, who owned a rooming house in the city. Major attended Bangs Avenue Elementary School through eighth grade and then moved on to Asbury Park High school, where he excelled at varsity football and formed an R&B vocal group, "The Mar-Keys." Major had a deep bass singing voice, one of the best in the area. In 1954, Major managed to convince fellow student Lenny Welch to join him in The Mar-Keys. Welch has often credited Major with giving him his start in music. The Mar-Keys were never recorded, but are remembered as one of the West Side's finest sounding R&B vocal groups. Their career was short-lived, however, and some members of the Mar-Keys, including Major, soon found themselves singing with Bobby Thomas & The vibes, another great R&B group from the West Side. After high school, Major enlisted in the Air Force. He married Harriet Jordan and they had three daughters. When Major left the Air Force, he went to work for the state Department of Corrections at the Jamesburg Training School for Boys. He also resumed his singing career, this time with Ron Coleman and the Uniques, a vocal group that would evolve into "The Broadways." The Uniques, with Joe Major, recommended for noted producer Eddie Singletary in New York but the recordings were apparently never released. Major left The Uniques in 1961. He was onlyu 38 when he passed away in 1978, from diabetes complications. Much thanks for Charlie and Pam Horner of Classic Urban Harmony for Joe Major's biographical information.
Clarence Clemons (1942-2011): Before he became the "Big Man" and Bruce Springsteen's main onstage foil, Clarence Clemons played with Little Melvin & the Invaders, and later joined Norman Seldin and the Joyful Noyze. Clemons, originally from Norfolk County, Virginia, had moved to New Jersey with his first band, "The Vibratones," which played James Brown covers. Clemons, who had once had a try-out with the NFL's Dallas Cowboys but missed another try-out with the Cleveland Browns after suffering serious injuries in a car accident, taught emotionally disturbed children at the New Jersey Training School in Jamesburg from 1962 until 1970. Seldin's band, The Joyful Noyze, recorded an album featuring Clemons, and played frequent gigs at Asbury Park's Wonder Bar. Clemons' meeting with Springsteen is now the stuff of legend; in tales told by Springsteen and Clemons, the saxophone player was playing at the Wonder Bar when Joyful Noyze lead singer Karen Cassidy convinced him to go see Springsteen, who was performing with his band several blocks away at The Student Prince on Kingsley Street. On a dark and stormy night, Clemons opened the door, and the door blew off, or so the legend says. Clemons sat in with Springsteen that night and Springsteen later jammed with The Joyful Noyze on at least two occasions before The Boss asked Clemons to add tenor saxophone to "Blinded By the Light" and "Spirit in the Night," songs he was recording for his first album, "Greetings from Asbury Park, N.J." When Springsteen went on the road to support the album, he called Clemons to join his band. Thus began a memorable musical partnership that resulted in Clemons contributing iconic saxophone parts to Springsteen songs like "Jungleland," "Badlands," "The Promised Land," "Thunder Road," "The Ties That Bind," "Drive All Night," "Sherry Darling" and many, many more. Besides his work with the E Street Band, Clemons recorded with many other artists, including Jackson Browne, on the Top 20 single, "You're a Friend of Mine," and Aretha Franklin on the Top 10 hit, "Freeway of Love." He also recorded with a diverse group of artists including Lady Gaga, Roy Orbison, Luther Vandross, Southside Johnny and the Asbury Jukes, Ronnie Spector, Janis Ian, Twisted Sister and Carlene Carter. Clemons, who at one time lived in Sea Bright, owned the Red Bank nightclub Big Man's West in the early 1980s, where he performed frequently with his band, "Clarence Clemons & The Red Bank Rockers." A member of Ringo Starr's "All-Starr Band" in 1989, Clemons and his band "The Temple of Soul" released two volumes of "Live in Asbury Park" in 2002 and 2004, recorded at the Stone Pony. Also an actor, Clemons had parts in several films, including "New York, New York," "Blues Brothers 2000" and "Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure." He was widely recognized as one of the most iconic saxophone players in the history of rock upon his death from stroke complications on June 18, 2011.
Danny Federici (1950-2008): Born in Flemington, Danny Federici learned how to play the accordion at 7 years old, inspired by "The Lawrence Welk Show." After mastering classical music and polkas, he became interested in jazz and blues and began playing keyboards as well as accordion. A graduate of Hunterdon Central High School, Federici eventually found his way to the Upstage Club in Asbury. He played with Bill Chinnock's bands "The Storytellers" and "The Downtown Tangiers Band," meeting and playing with Garry Tallent and Vini Lopez. He met Bruce Springsteen at the Upstage, and when Lopez and Federici decided to form the band "Child," they recruited Springsteen to join as a guitar player and singer, along with bass player Vinnie Roslin. Child later morphed into Steel Mill, Springsteen's most famous pre-E Street Band, which routinely drew crowds of more than 1,000 people to its shows in New Jersey and at its second home, in Richmond, Va. Federici earned his nickname "Phantom" following an infamous Steel Mill concert at the Clearwater Swim Club in Middletown in September 1970, which ended in a riot after the Middletown police pulled the plug on the band. Police accused Federici of knocking equipment onto them and planned to arrest him on charges of assaulting an officer. Federici avoided arrest at future shows by disappearing into the crowd when Steel Mill started their song "Resurrection," earning the Phantom nickname. Federici played with Bruce Springsteen for nearly 40 years. He was the original organ player in the E Street Band, and played accordion as well, his gentle accordion parts are prominent on Springsteen's love song to Asbury Park "Fourth of July, Asbury Park (Sandy)." His organ playing is prominent on other E Street classics, including "Kitty's Back," "Hungry Heart," and "Racing in the Street." "Danny and I worked together for 40 years -- he was the most wonderfully fluid keyboard player and pure natural musician," Springsteen said when Federici passed away after a long struggle with melanoma in 2008. "I loved him very much…We grew up together." Federici released two solo albums, "Flemington," in 1997, and "Out of a Dream" in 2004.
Bobby Alfano (1950-2007): The keyboard player in Bruce Springsteen's first band, "The Castiles," Bobby Alfano was a stalwart member of the Asbury Park music scene for many years before he died in 2007, playing keyboards in numerous local bands as well as writing songs. Born in Newark, he grew up in Marlboro and lived the last 20 years of his life in Wall. Alfano played keyboards with The Castiles in 1966 and 1967, and later he was a member of several Asbury-based bands, including Sunny Jim, The Disco Rejects with Vini "Mad Dog" Lopez and Lipman and the Lips. While with The Castiles, he co-wrote a song, "Mr. Jones," with Springsteen.
Bill Chinnock (1947-2007): One of the hottest guitar slingers from the Upstage Club days, Bill Chinnock was born in Newark and raised in Millburn, but he later lived with his parents at a Shore house in Avon. In 1967, Chinnock's band, "The Storytellers," made a single, "Cry With Me/Little Boy Sad" on Kama Sutra Records that became a regional hit at the Jersey Shore. The band, which eventually included future E Streeter Danny Federici on keyboards, got gigs in Hullabaloo Clubs in Middletown, Freehold and Asbury Park and appeared on television. Next Chinnock headed "The Downtown Tangiers Band," including Federici and future E Street bass player Garry W. Tallent. The band recorded an album that was never released, but a song written by Chinnock, "Crown Liquor," was later performed by Springsteen's biggest pre-E Street Band, Steel Mill. The band broke up when Chinnock briefly moved to Maine and Federici joined Steel Mill. In 1969, Chinnock returned from Maine and formed "Glory Road," which featured Tallent and drummer Bobby Williams. Glory Road opened for Steel Mill at the Clearwater Swim Club in Middletown in 1970 and a young keyboard player, David Sancious, eventually joined the group. But Chinnock became ill with mononucleosis and almost died. Bed-ridden for months, Chinnock moved to Maine permanently when he recovered and was signed to Paramount Records on the recommendation of the legendary talent scout, John Hammond. His debut album, Bill Chinnock Blues, was released in 1975. He later released acclaimed albums "Badlands" and "Dime Store Heroes," working with artists like Randy Brecker, Michael Brecker and David Sanborn. He briefly moved to Nashville for a time in the 1980s, releasing "Rock &Roll Cowboys"and "Learning to Survive in the Modern Age" on Epic Records. The latter album contained a minor hit, "Somewhere in the Night," a song that was also used as the theme for the soap opera "Search for Tomorrow." Chinnock won an Emmy award for the song in 1987. "Hold On to Love," a duet he performed with Roberta Flack, was featured on the soap opera, "The Guiding Light," in the early 1990s. At the recording studio he built in Maine, Chinnock wrote and recorded music for movies and television. He returned often to the Jersey Shore to perform during his recording career, playing at The Stone Pony and the Fast Lane in Asbury Park and at Big Man's West in Red Bank. He suffered from crippling effects of Lyme disease later in his life and died in 2007.
John Luraschi (1952-2009): An Upstage Club regular, Johnny Luraschi used to come to the club from his home and Belmar, sometimes with his neighbor, a young keyboard player named David Sancious. A bass player, Luraschi's older brother, Eddie, was a bouncer at the club. Before he came to the Upstage, Luraschi was a 14-year-old bass player with a surf band, Artie Paloso and the Surftones. After the Upstage days, Luraschi played in a series of seminal Asbury bands, including Cahoots, Cold, Blast & Steel, The George Theiss Band, The Disco Rejects, the Z Band, Steel Mill Retro and Boccigalupe & the Bad Boys. After being diagnosed with the lung cancer that would take his life in 2009, Luraschi released a cd, "The End of the Road," which features a duet with Bruce Springsteen on the song, "Savin' Up." Vini Lopez, who played with Luraschi in The Disco Rejects and Steel Mill Retro, said Luraschi's bass-playing was "rock solid, and that allows the rest of the musicians to go off on their tangents." Luraschi succumbed to lung cancer in 2009.
Larry "Bozo" Blasco (1954-2009): Born in Neptune, Larry Blasco served in the U.S. Army before he began work at the Stone Pony as a member of the club's original production staff. A jack of all trades, Blasco was a lighting director and guitar technician, and also served as a tour manager. In addition to his many years as lighting director at the Stone Pony, Blasco also worked at shows at almost every local venue in the Shore area, including Asbury's Convention Hall and Paramount Theatre, the now-defunct Tradewinds in Sea Bright and Marz in Long Branch, and at large outdoor events including the Warped Tour and Skate and Surf in Asbury Park, as well as the Asbury Music Festival. Blasco toured with Wyclef Jean for 10 years, and also went on the road with Carolyne Mas, Southside Johnny and the Asbury Jukes and John Eddie. He also worked closely with legendary Asbury bands Cahoots and Cold, Blast and Steel. Blasco passed away in 2009.
