-
Continued -
Introduction
Hmmm, two visits to Myrtle Beach in a period of five months after a
fifteen year hiatus - the beginning of a new trend? Probably not,
but we must say our interest in enjoying Carolina Beach Music once again
in sitū has been piqued and there may
well be more excursions forthcoming for that purpose. But, let's
backtrack a bit and reflect on the circumstances which led to this trip.
Our earlier trip in June to celebrate our 20th
wedding anniversary was a "bust" as far as weather and
accommodations, but it did serve the purpose of reminding us just how
many wonderful times we had shared there long ago and in spite of the
massive changes which had occurred in the interim it was, after all,
still home to our favorite style of music. As detailed in the
report about that visit, LuLu at Fat Harold's had told us the street
gossip about the creation of a new Beach Music group which would be
significant and it involved an old friend of ours, Johnny Barker. In the
weeks that ensued we learned LuLu had her stuff right - the Legends of
Beach had been created with many former members of the Embers whom we
enjoyed so much in the 1985 - 1992 period. Their formal debut
performance was to be held at TJ's in Raleigh, NC and we decided it
definitely wasn't something we wanted to miss. Consequently, we
were the very first people to reserve tickets and a table for the
event. And we thoroughly enjoyed it! Best of all, Johnny
Barker immediately recognized us and we had a wonderful reunion with him
and his lovely wife, Bonnie. So many good memories, so much good
music we shared.
With our interest in Beach Music significantly
heightened, it's perhaps no surprise that when we noticed on the
internet an announcement of the upcoming Carolina Beach Music Awards
show and related activities in Myrtle Beach we found ourselves wondering
why we had never attended before. In short order we made
reservations.
The Carolina Beach
Music Awards
We'll deviate from our normal order of presentation in our
travelogues and go directly to the primary event which prompted our
latest trip. Later we'll address the many associated activities in other sections of this write-up.
We must say the
Carolina Beach Music
Awards show was one of the finest musical presentations we've ever
attended and that includes venues in locations such as New York and
London. It was extremely well organized and professionally
executed. All of the performers, bands and individuals alike,
provided first class deliveries, the acoustics were great, the acts
flowed smoothly, and the actual award presentations and acceptances were
mercifully brief. The organizers of the Emmys and other such award
events could learn some worthwhile things from these people. And,
importantly, we should note that even those folk who aren't proper
hardcore Carolina Beach Music aficionados, but appreciate, in general,
older style blues and soul type music most likely would have immensely
enjoyed this presentation.
There were over 25 different groups and
individuals giving performances during the nearly four hours of the
program. The Swingin' Medallions kicked it off with an explosive,
unforgettably dynamic delivery of their signature Double Shot of My
Baby's Love. It was a classic beach music show band at its
absolute finest with eight (yes, eight) horns, strong vocals and traditional step routines with
swinging instruments. And to their considerable credit the
rendition was completely true to the original song especially with
respect to its all important tempo! (We'll digress to ask
rhetorically why is it too many groups feel the need to speed up the
original versions of their music for live performances and in the process destroy something
very important? A good example of our complaint is a group which
was not at the awards show, but whose original music we greatly enjoy -
General Johnson and the Chairmen of the Board. Are you paying
attention, guys?).
Something we particularly should note is
the performances throughout were truly "live" - none of that
lip synching deception. Even the individual singers there without
their bands obviously were doing the actual vocals to a recording of the
music from the band. However this feat of theatre scale karaoke
was accomplished, it indeed was very effective and well done in every
case.
Apart from immensely enjoying hearing the
music, we also appreciated being able to actually see some of the newer
incarnations on the Carolina Beach Music scene - those people with great contemporary
music we hear via the internet on North Myrtle's 94.9
FM. To name just a few examples, we would include
Greg Moseley,
Paul Craver, Angel Risoff,
Jim Quick
& Coastline Band, and, for that matter, even the Craig Woolard Band
- you need to remember it's been a long time since we last saw Craig and
that's when he was with the Embers. We also want to mention the fabulous
group which won the Best New Artist category, The Magnificents.
And we're not the least bit prejudiced by the fact they're from Ed's
hometown.
Our visit to the Alabama Theatre in the
Barefoot Landing complex was our first one and actually our first to any
of the "theme theaters" in Myrtle. We really didn't know
what to expect, but readily will admit we thought it would be both
somewhat "downscale" and probably "tacky" as indeed
we imagined all the similar establishments to be. We were more
than pleasantly surprised at how nice the Alabama is including seating,
ushers, decor, acoustics, stage layout and lighting, restrooms and
overall cleanliness. Clearly perhaps we're dating ourselves or
just maybe there was indeed some downscale element or gaucheness present - concession
stands in the lobby selling drinks, popcorn, etc. for consumption during
a live performance. What's that all about?!
We did learn with regard to seating we
needed to reserve way in advance and will do so for next year's show,
which we definitely want to attend. We contacted the Alabama
ticket office by telephone while looking at a seating diagram on the
internet. Our preference was center Orchestra but the very best
available at that point was row 22 in Section E. The diagram is
misleading to those not familiar with the facility because it gave us
the impression that our seats were much closer to the stage than they
subsequently proved to be. We're not complaining because we had a
good view, as it seems all the seats provide, but, as we said, would
have preferred to be much closer. By the way, we should mention
the show subsequently did become totally sold out and ticket orders were being
refused.
A subject worth addressing here might be
helpful to others planning on attending for the first time - the matter
of what to wear. We were completely mystified as to what would be
appropriate for the show, but knew of course we wanted to be
comparatively well dressed. Searching on the internet for pictures
from past shows didn't help much and consequently we wrote to one of the
organizers and also to Dana
Kirk, official event photographer for past
shows and the current one. The responses basically indicated we
would find the dress to be "all over the place" and described
attire ranging from 
slacks and shirt sleeves at one extreme to tuxedos
at the other. That wasn't much help in terms of us deciding what
to do. On a hunch which proved to be a good one, we thought
Bonnie Barker, wife of Johnny Barker of the Legends of Beach would be
able to give us proper direction based on her past experiences.
Bonnie confirmed what the others had said, but, knowing us, encouraged
leaning toward dressier attire. She was right on target. Ed
wore a dark suit with a subtle fine pin stripe and Sandra a black velvet
suit with matching velvet high heels and bag. We found ourselves
to be very comfortable there with our selections, but to give you
additional perspective on the matter we should note we're already
contemplating doing a tux and a gown for next year. There were
certainly plenty of people in attendance attired in such and they
weren't just the performers.
We trust the message has come through
loudly and clearly to our readers that we tremendously enjoyed the
Carolina Beach Music Awards show and would encourage you to attend
future presentations, if you have the opportunity to do so.
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