The Beaches, Continued
Jones
Beach is just beyond Point Lookout. The landmark water tower, affectionately
known as "the pencil" welcomes millions of visitors each year to its miles
of pure white sand. At one time, you could not traverse the sand without the
echo of a million transistor radios. Today, one ghetto-blaster can rock the
masses, but there is something to be said for "Cousin Brucie...Cousin Brucie....COUSIN
BRUCIE!!!" in maximum reverberation. During the day, under the sun, was the
only time Jones Beach shook. In the evening, Guy Lombardo And His Royal Canadians
played under the bandshell and it was time to move on.
"On"
might be to The Oak Beach Inn for another beer blast or farther still to Fire
Island. Fire Island was, and still is for the rich, the gay elite and the
day-tripping party animal. George Frayne IV was a lifeguard at Fire Island
State Park (pre-Robert Moses State Park). At night, he sang with The Lorenzo
Lightfoot Athletic Club And Blues Band in a small club on Wantagh Avenue.
The band included a guitarist named Jerry Margolis, now a top Hollywood attorney.
Frayne had a penchant for amusing titles, he named Washboard Willie And The
Supersuds of Rhythm and, later, during college, he learned to play harmonica
and renamed himself Commander Cody.
After
Fire Island, you reach the fabled Hamptons. First stop: Dune Road--The Westhampton
Strip. This was, and continues to be, the ideal beach blanket bingo. With
the rock and dance clubs within walking distance of the surf and young singles
each step between, it was natural location for the oncoming roar of rock.
John Dizek, lead singer of The Hassles has his
memories. "The Action House gigs were great, with great crowds, you know.
But The Hungry Eye days in Westhampton were even better. Every show was wild--no
holds barred. Because the design of the club was strange, strange things happened.
See, the stage was behind the bar. There were two columns at either end where
they hung fire extinguishers. One time, I took an extinguisher and walked
up and back across the bar spraying the customers. I remember Richie McKenna
cowering over his guitar begging me not to spray him (laughs). We had good
times in the summer. We'd be up all night playing and end up sleeping on the
beach until the green flies would wake us in the morning (sighs). We had rooms
above the Eye, but it was the summer...and that summer was great. When the
season ended, we rented rooms in the city and played clubs like The Peppermint
Lounge and The Village Barn. The Rascals were at
The Phone Booth and The Vagrants were at Steve
Paul's The Scene. Ah...but the city was a different scene altogether."
The beach was memorable to many. The Rascals great hit, "Groovin'" refers to "...you and me endlessly Groovin'"--a line that recalls peace, tranquility and friendship. It accurately depicted a halcyon afternoon on the beach behind The Hungry Eye when Felix Cavaliere, Eddie Brigati and Leslie West recovered from yet another wild night. According to some who were there, the line originally read, "you and me and Leslie groovin'."
The
Long Island Sound was first used to describe the Westhampton scene; rock music
based upon the wailing churchy sound of the Hammond B-3 organ. It was the
era of the B-3 bands and the hit singles they produced, with a propensity
toward "summer songs". Several of these groups were not even from Long Island!
They simply were at the right place at the right time; in this case, Westhampton
Beach. During the mid '60s, the once sedate seashore was suddenly alive with
rock clubs and beach bunnies. Fortunately for the performers, the powers that
ran the music business all had summer "cottages" nearby.
