Summary
"Everyone said, 'If the rest of them do it, I'll do it,'" notes [Michael Davis]. "So the classic version of the band-without The Reflections-got back together." While the core group remained intact, there have been a few changes: New to The Coachmen of the 21st century is John Saltamach on trumpet, who Davis noted is a human encyclopedia on 1950s music and has been possibly the most crucial band member in getting Cruizin' songs authentic; and after [Joe Neri]'s work took him out of town, he was replaced on lead guitar by Dickie Cappotto, [Rick Cappotto]'s younger brother, who Davis stated was kind of The Coachmen's "mascot" in those early years.
Finally, [Elizabeth Abriola Fern] (see story, above), who has been involved with all of the past productions of Cruizin', was brought in to give the group a female voice and make it possible to expand the repertoire of songs they'd be able to perform. "She gives us the liberty to do not only the rock'n'roll girl songs like Connie Francis," observes Davis, "but she can also do the Jo Staffords and the Patsy Clines as well as the Laverne Bakers and the r'n'b thing, so she has a really good range. So now we have a soprano in the band-not a Soprano that's going to come with a machine gun-but a vocal soprano and now we don't have to have a guy straining with a not-very-convincing falsetto."Although Fern will be helping teach the stroll and the hand jive to those who want to dance, she's not hoofing it. "A big dance floor is being put in the New Times Theater and this is where people are getting confused. They're saying, 'Oh, so you're going to be dancing, too.' And I tell them, 'No, no. You're going to be dancing. I'm going to be singing.' This show is all about people getting up to dance, which I think is a great idea because there aren't that many opportunities to dance in this city."See the full content of this document
Extract
Cruizin' Thru the 1950s Dance Party
Like psychedelia of the late 1960s and New Wave of the 1980s, every era is defined by a particular musical parlance, but if you dig a little deeper, you'll see there's more to the styles and sonic substances than meets the eyes and ears. Although their music is mainly rooted in the sweet soul sounds of the late 1960s and early 1970s, The Coachmen, whose roots trace back to 1966, couldn't pass up the opportunity when Art Zimmer asked them to be the house band for his annual Cruizin' Through the 1950s production.
"When we started listening ...See the full content of this document
Sponsored links
