Fourth of July, Asbury Park
Fourth of July, Asbury Park

Author: Daniel Wolff

Publisher: Rutgers University Press

Published: 2021-11-24

Total Pages: 208

ISBN-13: 1978820410

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Bruce Springsteen brought international attention to the Jersey shore by naming his debut album Greetings from Asbury Park, NJ. But the real Asbury Park has an even more fascinating story behind it: a seaside city of dreams that became a magnet for both the best and worst of America, playing host to John Philip Sousa, Count Basie, and Dr. Martin Luther King, as well as the mob and the Ku Klux Klan. Fourth of July, Asbury Park tells the tale of the city’s first 150 years, guiding us through the development of its lavish amusement parks and bandstands, as well as the decay of its working-class neighborhoods and spread of its racially-segregated ghettos. Featuring exclusive interviews with Springsteen and other prominent Asbury Park residents, Daniel Wolff uncovers the history of how this Jersey shore resort town came to epitomize both the promises of the American dream and the tragic consequences when those promises are broken. Hailed by The New York Times as a “wonderfully evocative...grand, sad story” when first published in 2006, this revised and expanded edition considers how Asbury Park has changed in the twenty-first century, experiencing both gentrification and new forms of segregation.

Springwood Avenue Harmony
Springwood Avenue Harmony

Author: Charles Horner, Jr.

Publisher:

Published: 2020-02

Total Pages:

ISBN-13: 9781732965027

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Since just after it's founding in 1871, Asbury Park, New Jersey, has been a "music city". Yet through much of its history, Asbury Park has been a segregated city. While much is known about the musicians who played the seaside resort's beachfront venues, until now, little has been written about the music of the shadow city just across the railroad tracks. Springwood Avenue Harmony details the history of music from Asbury Park's predominantly African American West Side from 1871 through 1945. It includes the genres of Spirituals, Ragtime, Stride Piano, Jazz, Black Vaudeville, Blues, Big Band, Gospel and Pop music. The book examines the social, political, economical and racial climates under which the music developed and evolved. The lives of West Side singers and musicians long forgotten are finally given recognition. Also covered are the churches, theaters, nightclubs and entertainment venues that made up the music scene along Springwood Avenue. The book has close to 200 rare photos/flyers and is drawn from more than 700 documented news clippings, journals, books and interviews.

Asbury Park: A Century of Change
Asbury Park: A Century of Change

Author: Helen-Chantal Pike

Publisher: Arcadia Publishing

Published: 2021-06-07

Total Pages: 128

ISBN-13: 1467105147

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As the 20th century got under way, Asbury Park was booming. Real estate advertisements promoted a residential resort where country meets the sea. The nearly one-square-mile gridded municipality attracted individuals who saw opportunities, from architects and artists to entrepreneurs and people looking for employment. But with the death of its founder and leading benefactor, James A. Bradley, and the rise of machine politics under Mayor Clarence E.F. Hetrick, Asbury Park's civic and economic fortunes started to change. In World War II's long aftermath, suburbs, shopping malls, and modern amusement destinations sprang up outside its municipal borders. Its once-bustling economy faltered, and civil unrest festered until 1970, when it turned violent. It took more than 10 years for new changes to find their way to the drawing boards. But it was in the 21st century that new business and civic leaders with a more inclusive pioneering spirit started turning Asbury Park's fortunes around.

Asbury Park's Glory Days
Asbury Park's Glory Days

Author: Helen-Chantal Pike

Publisher: Rutgers University Press

Published: 2005-04-19

Total Pages: 258

ISBN-13: 9780813540870

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Winner of the 2005 New Jersey Author Award for Scholarly Non-Fiction from the New Jersey Studies Academic Alliance Long before Bruce Springsteen picked up a guitar; before Danny DeVito drove a taxi; before Jack Nicholson flew over the cuckoo's nest, Asbury Park was a seashore Shangri-La filled with shimmering odes to civic greatness, world-renowned baby parades, temples of retail, and atmospheric movie palaces. It was a magnet for tourists, a summer vacation mecca-to some degree New Jersey's own Coney Island. In Asbury Park's Glory Days, award-winning author Helen-Chantal Pike chronicles the city's heyday-the ninety-year period between 1890 and 1980. Pike illuminates the historical conditions contributing to the town's cycle of booms and recessions. She investigates the factors that influenced these peaks, such as location, lodging, dining, nightlife, merchandising, and immigration, and how and why millions of people spent their leisure time within this one-square-mile boundary on the northern coast of the state. Pike also includes an epilogue describing recent attempts to resurrect this once-vibrant city.

You Don't Know Me
You Don't Know Me

Author: Norman Seldin

Publisher:

Published: 2021-09-30

Total Pages: 264

ISBN-13: 9781732965034

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"You Don't Know Me" is the fascinating memoir of Stormin' Norman Seldin, the influential musician, band leader, songwriter, arranger, producer, promoter and record label owner. Norman's music career transcends the genres of rhythm & blues, doo wop, soul, jazz, rock & roll, pop and rock music and his life stories go way beyond his involvement in music. Norman began playing piano at age three and fronted his first band by the age of twelve. Norman's strong influence helped shape the emerging Asbury Park rock scene of the 1960's that became known worldwide as the Jersey Sound. As a teenage dance and concert promoter he brought together many of the early bands like the Castiles, Motifs, DuCanes, Sonny & the Starfires and Jaywalkers that produced rock luminaries like Bruce Springsteen, Vini Lopez, Doc Holiday, Billy Ryan, Mickey Holiday, Vinnie Roslin and others. Norman hired and recorded Clarence Clemons prior to Bruce Springsteen's E Street Band. In doing so, he broke the color barrier in Jersey shore clubs. In soul music, Norman discovered Harry Ray before Ray Goodman & Brown. In doo wop music, Norman managed acts like Larry Chance & the Earls and produced numerous concerts by Nicky Addeo, Vito & the Salutations, Shells, Duprees, Danny & the Juniors, Belmonts, Olympics and countless others. He recorded doo wop groups like the Darchaes, Uniques and Shondelles. This barely scratches the surface of a career that went from New Jersey to Mississippi to Florida and back. But accomplishments alone don't make for a great read. There has to be a storyline to draws readers in. While music is woven through the fabric of every paragraph, this book is not really about music. It's about one man's determination to overcome adversity while living by his own terms. Whether racing horses, surviving health crises or fighting discrimination, Norman Seldin "stormed" his way through each situation. This book is the life story of Stormin' Norman Seldin. Music is just Norman's companion. Norman found early on that in an imperfect world, real music is pure. In a world full of discord, Norman found harmony.