ATLANTIC CITY POP FEST 1969 - 2009
When Buddy Miles played the Hard Rock Cafe he mentioned the fact that he had played the Atlantic City Pop Fest, which he said made a lasting impression on his life.
He played that night for hours, hours beyond the 2 am time he was supposed to stop, and by the time he had finished, the room was half-empty, but those who were sitting in the back moved up to the front and the back was lined by casino dealers and executives in their suits, listening to the seemingly endless jam that rocked into the early morning hours.
Sunday, May 24, 2009
Tuesday, May 19, 2009
Buddy Miles at Hard Rock AC
Budy Miles Tears Up the Taj
Nightbeat – The SandPaper Friday, May 23, 1997
Most casino shows are short and sweet, a little more than an hour, and then get the people out the door and onto the casino floor as soon as possible.
But the Atlantic City Hard Rock Café at the Jaj and Buddy Miles are exceptions.
When the classic rocker came to Atlantic City last week you couldn’t get him to stop playing, and nobody tried to give him the hook.
Buddy Miles, who at one time played drums behind Hendrix and then saddled up next to him on guitar, is probably the only person to win Playboy magazine’s music poll in two categories, drums and guitar, and he played both at the Hard Rock.
Opening with a laid back version of Dylan’s “All Along the Watchtower,” he stretched the first set over an hour, took a break and then played, and played and played until the last call, at nearly three o’clock in the morning.
Currently won tour with a good tight band – Roderick Kohn on guitar, Charles Torres on bass, Mark Leach on keyboards, and Ken Mootenoit on drums, Buddy Miles seems to be getting bigger rather than older.
Lake a Budda with drum sticks, he set the beat for an evening of music, then would occasionally come out and sit in a chair in front of the stage and pick the guitar and sing, his voice reminiscent of the classic songs he did with groups like Electric Flag, Eric Clapton and other, mainly British Invasion bands that recognized his greatness.
At the Taj a lot of people recognized his greatness and came out for the show, but after three or four hours – it was a mid-week school night, the back of the room began to empty out, and people moved up closer to the stage.
Those who stayed got a special treat, and after midnight, when the graveyard shift got off and kicked back, off duty waitresses, dealers and pit bosses came in to watch the show.
Many danced, but most just sat back and watched in awe as Miles and his band jammed into the early hours of the morning.
I started to keep a song list, “Whole Lotta’ Love,” “Ramblin’,” all starting out slow and meandering before picking up in tempo and rocking. “Turn on Your Love Light,” “Down by the River,” “If I was a Carpenter,” “Born Under a Bad Sign,” “Hey, Joe” and an extended version of “I’m Just Expressing Myself” and “Them Changes” kept things going into the night.
At one point in the proceedings Miles recalled playing the 1969 Atlantic City Pop Festival, which was held at the Atlantic City Race Track the weekend before Woodstock and included most of the Woodstock lineup.
He later said he couldn’t remember too many of the details of that engagement, giving credence to the saying that if you remember the 1960s you weren’t there.
But there were a lot of 60s flashbacks going on, and there’s more to come. The Atlantic City Hard Rock Café is the only one in the world that offers live music in addition to rock & roll and hamburgers.
See: Photos of Buddy Miles at the Hard Rock Café, Atlantic City.
Bubba Birch and Jerry Blavat
Herb "Bubba" Birch and Jerry "the Geater with the heater, the Boss with the hot sauce" Blavat at the Bubba Mack Shack in Somers Point, NJ
Twisties - Strathmere, NJ
Twisties is one of the last of the original rum runner bay bars on the East Coast.
Original, unrestored, it's pretty much the same as it was in the 30s and 40s when Strathmere was a major hub in the illegal importation and distribution of booze.
A little, ramshackle boat house, Twisties is named after one of the former owners, and Twistie's brother Oliver Twist still lives down the street if you want to learn more about him.
I'd tell you where it is but you'd still have to find Strathmere, which is the north end of the barrier island that Sea Isle City sits on, just south of, and across the drawbridge from Ocean City (NJ).
I remember when we lived in Sea Isle in the late 50s and early 60s dad would drive towards Strathmere to get to deliver trash - in brown paper bags, to the dump. (Taxes were low).
Further on was the Dolphin motel (owned by former Nazi U-boat officer Rudy Plappert), and the historic Deauville Inn, the heart of Downtown Strathmere, which technically lies in Upper Township, and has a trailer park, Mildred's restaurant, a volunteer fire department and post office but no police force. The Inquirer's Clark DeLeon used to call Strathmere "Undisclosed Location."
Twisties lies on the bay between Mildred's and the Deauville.
For years there were no signs, so if you didn't know it was there you walked right past it. Now there's a sign out front and some neon beer ads in the windows.
When you walk in the screen door - it's only open in the summer - there's a stool at the end of the bar where Twistie, or the owner of record, would sit. I think Twistie sold it to Riordan, the only realitor in town, and he ran it as a hobby.
The one wall to the left should have a dozen or so trophy fish, one of each kind found in local waters, and some from Florida. That's where one of the former eccentric owners got the Indian head coconuts that line the shelf that runs along the ceiling. I think he brought one back each year he went down there.
The small bar runs down the left wall and around the back, where there's some windows that let you see the sun set over the bay, or what ever's happening along this little section of the inter-coastal waterway.
There's the rest rooms in the corner, and before the small dining room that leads back to the kitchen there's a juke box. Now the last time I was there the original juke box from the 60s-70s era was there, playing 45s for 25c, and there were some classics that had been on there for decades.
I guess the only clue of what century you were in was the TV with the sports on.
Bottled beer was the house drink. No draft. Too much trouble.
I did a story about Twisties and the history of the joint for the SandPaper that I will try to dig up if I can find it, and anybody's interested.
BK
billkelly3@gmail.com
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