|
The
Newports
Riverdale-Dolton-Harvey,
Illinois
1961-1966
|
Three pretty
conventional guys from the south Chicago
suburbs discovered rock 'n roll. Started
out as the Trebles while attending
Roosevelt grade school in Dolton Il,
became the Newports while attending
Thornton Township HS in Harvey Il. Hardly
any competition in the pre-Beatles
era.
|
|
Personnel:
Bryan
Salvage - Lead Guitar/Vocals
Bill Bielby - Rhythm Guitar, Bass
Bob Caroli - Keyboards
Terry Tritt - Sax
Bob Jones - Guitar
Bob Gedzun and later, Tom Donlinger -
Drums
|
|
|
Influences:
Early
instrumental groups (Duane Eddy, Johnny
& the Hurricanes)
|
|
Setlist
Sample:
Shout,
Stand By Me, Please Please Me
|
|
Equipment:
'53 Les Paul, Baldwin Strat copy, Hagstrom
bass, Maestro, Univox, and other
under-powered amps
|
|
Rehearsal
Space:
Basement
|
|
|
|
|
|
Band
Vehicles:
Whatever
dad was driving, until we turned 16 and
got our own drivers' licenses.
|
|
|
|
|
Fashion
Statement:
Matching
sportcoats - our best were gold
irredescent harringbone with detachable
felt collars.
|
|
|
|
|
Best
Gig:
Dorchester
Club, Dolton Illinois - because we were
13-14 years old and on top of the
world.
|
|
|
|
|
Gig
from
Hell!:
Audition
at a dive bar in Gary Indiana, because we
were 13-14 years old and out of our
league.
|
|
|
|
|
Last
Gig:
Not sure
- I left the band in '65 to go to college.
Probably a battle-of-the-bands at Thornton
Township High School, Harvey,
IL.
|
|
|
|
Scott Koves (friend of band),
Bryan Salvage, Bob Caroli, Terry Tritt, Bill
Bielby.
Not pictured: Tom Donlinger, our drummer in '65
|
Donlinger - musician in Marin
County CA - toured with Van Morrison, played with Rotary
Connection, HP Lovecraft, others; Bob Caroli in CA, has had
a career doing voice overs in commercials ("fill it to the
rim with brim" on-air promos for WWF); Bryan Salvage is
managing editor for a food industry magazine; Terry Tritt
(aka Sonny Lee) teaches music at a grade school, performs in
blues and R&B groups, and has a jazz ensemble called
Saxaphones; me (Bielby), I'm professor of Sociology, UCSB,
and 2003 president of American Sociological Association, but
I'd rather be back with the band! I'm also doing a
sociolgical study of 60s bands, especially those that were
never even "almost famous."
|
A
Semi-Newports Reunion! Chicago, August 16,
2002
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
The performance of Thin
Vitae at the Grand Ballroom of the Chicago Hilton
on August 16 was a dream come true for me. I mean
literally. I've had a recurring dream for about two
decades about getting the band back together.
Usually, in my dream, the big night is coming, but
when I get on stage the guitar is strung with
rubber bands, or the electricity is out, or the
cables are the wrong size, or... you get the idea.
It's a variation on the recurring dream that
everyone who teaches has at the start of a new
school year. What made the event especially
meaningful was performing again with my childhood
friend, Bryan Salvage. Bryan taught me how to play
guitar in the summer of 1960 (we were going into
eighth grade), and together with Bob Gedzun we
became "The Trebles" (later the Newports) for a
Roosevelt School talent contest. We last performed
together in 1965. I went off to the Big U and Bryan
went off to the Navy, and we lost touch with one
another for over 20 years. Also on stage that night
were my friends from grad school days, Steve
Gortmaker (now a professor at Harvard) and Mickey
Silvers (in the telcom business, still in Madison).
The UCSB contingent was me, Jack Sutton (a faculty
colleague), Craig Rawlings (a graduate student),
and Leonard Neverez (a UCSB Ph.d. now a professor
at Vassar). And a pleasant surprise was Dee Lebeau.
Dee is Thornridge class of '65; we didn't know each
other back then, and until the rehearsal my only
contact with her had been via the Riverdale-Dolton
internet forum. Dee had never sung blues/rock
before, but she has a stunning voice and discovered
that evening that not only is she good at
blues/rock, she really likes it. So I think she'll
definitely be on board for our reprise in Atlanta,
August 16, 2003.
We knew something special was going to happen when
we got together for rehearsal the day before. I had
circulated CDs to everyone with the songs by the
original artists, and everyone had been practicing
on their own. Introductions were made, and we ran
through the playlist, nailing the songs one after
another. And unlike the music we were making in the
1960s and 1970s, back when all we could afford were
cheap guitars and under-powered amps, this time we
had all the right stuff. The biggest ego boost was
as we were leaving. The folks that manage the
rehearsal studio, started sharing with us the buzz
we were creating among their employees, all jaded
veterans of the music biz, who had been listening
to us. I knew we were going to be in fine form on
Friday, so late Thursday night I posted hundreds of
flyers all over ASA convention at the
Hilton.
The band started out
mellow, with an instrumental version of Van
Morrison's "Moondance," and then kicked things off
with an obscure 1960s instrumental, "Whittier
Boulevard." From there it was Chicago blues ("Born
in Chicago," "Luther's Blues," "Messin' With the
Kid," "Baby Please Don't Go"), R&B ("Mustang
Sally," "Walkin' the Dog," Round 'n Round,"
"Memphis"), your basic 60s frat-rock - "Gloria,"
"Money," "Louie, Louie;" "House of the Rising Sun,"
some British invasion ("For Your Love,"
"Yesterday"), a soulful ballad ("Bring it on Home
to Me"), a little Dylan ("Like a Rolling Stone"),
surf ("Pipeline" - greatly appreciated by the folks
in the crowd from southern California), even
something from the early psychedelic days ("Susie
Q"). We capped the evening off with, what else,
everyone's rock 'n roll anthem from the year I
graduated TTHS, "Satisfaction" and closed with a
reprise of "Whittier Boulevard." Then it was hugs,
cheers, and tears for me and my bandmates, who
immediately started planning the playlist for next
year in Atlanta.
|
Information contributed by Bill
Bielby
bielbyw@soc.ucsb.edu
|
