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Jewel
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Third Annual Charleston Beach Music
& Shag Festival (August 21-24, 2008)
By Pamela Horner
On the advice of Willie C, our good friend and advisor on
matters of Carolina Beach Music, we flew down to Charleston, SC this August
to attend the Third Annual Charleston Beach Music & Shag Festival. This was an
extravaganza of music put on by Beach Music and Shag Preservation Society of
S.C. Though the festival had activities spread over four days, we were only
able to attend the Saturday performance at The Citadel Alumni House in
Charleston. The day began at 11 AM with and hour of shag dance lessons.
The Shag is a dance that began in South Carolina in the 1940’s. It’s a form
of swing dance associated with Beach Music and is the state dance of both
South Carolina and North Carolina. Carolina Beach Music is a form of Rhythm
& Blues music that lends itself to this dance. In a one-hour lesson,
Charlie and I were able to get the basic steps but we’ll need a little
practice before we enter any shag contests. Some of the shaggers we saw
were pretty good.
The Citidel Alumni House, Charleston, SC
The festival organizer, Harriett Grady-Thomas, did a fabulous
job keeping everything running smoothly. The opening group was The
Fabulous Shades and they were indeed fabulous. There were four singers plus
a smoldering band. Some of the songs they did were Beach Music standards,
“Party Time Man”, “In A Moment”, “Hold Back The Night” and their big hit “I
Wanna Be At The Beach”. See our Links page to connect with the Fabulous
Shades.
The Fabulous Shades
I never thought I’d ever hear Billy Scott & The Prophets, now
called Billy Scott & the Party Prophet Band, but they were there too. Billy
is a born entertainer. He’s very dynamic on stage and off. He sang “Party
Time Man,” “Carolina Girls” and “634-5789”. He closed his act with his
well-known hit “I’ve Got The Fever”. Billy Scott was a pleasure to hear and
meet after his performance. Visit their website through our
Links page.
Billy Scott
What a surprise for us to hear that the next group,
Wallstreet, not only was from New Jersey, but that they sang Beach Music.
It turned out, they live only a stones throw from Classic Urban Harmony
LLC’s world headquarters. They began their set dressed in business suits,
looking very sophisticated, but by the end of their act they’d generated so
much energy, their jackets and ties had to be discarded. Wallstreet have
had three smash hits on The Beach Music Charts in the past two years.
People sitting near us knew all the words to their songs and sang along.
Wallstreet sang all of their Beach Music hits - “Finally Friday,” “The
Little Things That You Do” and “Life’s Good When You’re Shagging.” The
first two tunes cracked the Beach Music Charts’ Top-25 in 2006 while the
latter song is climbing the Charts now. At the time of the Festival it was
#36 with a bullet! The group also did a number of other songs including
Louis Jordan’s “Let The Good Time Roll.” Two members of Wallstreet also
perform with the legendary Trammps. In salute to the Trammps, Wallstreet
closed with “Hold Back The Night.” We’re looking forward to seeing
Wallstreet again but closer to home. Check out their MySpace site through
our Links page.
Wallstreet
Next up was Maurice Williams & The Zodiacs. The name Maurice
Williams was known even before the Zodiacs, when he sang with the
Gladiolas. Maurice is celebrating his 50th anniversary in show
business (though some might argue that the Gladiolas started in 1957). What
a career, and Maurice is still sounding fine! He had some help from a group
member on the high notes but otherwise he sounded just like his records.
Maurice and the Zodiacs began their set with “Brown Eyed Girl”, “We Like
That Old Time Rock And Roll” and “What A Wonderful World”. Maurice
celebrated his career by singing “May I,” “Stay” and “Little Darling.” They
have an album to be released this fall. If you’re in the Carolinas try to
catch this classic group. They still have it. Visit their website through
our Links page.
Maurice Williams & the Zodiacs
Next was a man that we’ve seen many times in New Jersey. In
the past he was a member of Little Isidore and The Inquisitors. Now, he’s a
Beach Music sensation. His name is Angel Rissoff and he’s from the Bronx.
Angel’s also had several songs on the Beach Music charts. He opened his
program with the Five Royals’ “Think” and then went into “Ain’t No Big
Thing” and “Part Time Love.” He also included “For Your Love,” a song he
used to sing as Little Leopold in the group Little Isidore and The
Inquisitors. Angel closed with “I Want A Love I Can See”. Another solid
performance at the festival, plus he was backed by blistering band called
the Nu Soul Stew Band. You can
visit his site through our Links page.
Angel Rissoff
This was my third time seeing the final group of the
evening. Previously, we had flown down to South Carolina for festive New
Years’ Eve performances. They were extraordinarily great both times so my
expectations were immense. They were still amazing! They were, the
fabulous Joe Pope Tams! The Tams had a long performance, even running
overtime, but not a single person there minded! Their chorography was
beyond amazing. They danced on stage and down with the audience. The Tams
sang “Love Train” and formed a train with the audience, all around the
auditorium. Lead singer, Lil’ Redd Cottle, joined the group thirty years ago when he was just
a kid. Known as having the “fastest feet in the South,” Redd danced up a
storm. The Tams opening with “I Love Music,” and then sang all their hits
including “I’ve Been Hurt,” “What Kind of Fool (Do You Think I Am),” “Hey
Girl (Don’t Bother Me),” Be Young, Be Foolish, Be Happy,” “Laugh It Off,”
and “Untie Me.” They closed a stellar performance with “Without Love, Where
Would You Be Now”. Original Tams cofounder, Charles Pope, and Joe Jones
(with the Tams for the last 35 years) were kind enough to take photos with
us. Charlie maintains the Tams may be the most exciting performers
in the country today! At the Festival, Harriett mentioned she’d be writing
a book about the Tams. We’ll let you know when it’s finished. Check out
the Tams’ website from our Links page. They have many performance dates
listed and this is a group you don’t want to miss!
The Charles Pope Tams
Willie C and Harriett
Harriett and the folks at the Beach Music and Shag
Preservation Society have been doing a great job preserving Carolina Beach
Music and they need all of our support. They have a great new CD out
called "Big Mama's House" that all the festival artists contributed songs
to. Proceeds benefit the Society. We'll be reviewing it on our
site in the near future. For info on all the Society's events and how
to get their new CD, reach them through our Links page. And don’t forget to use
our Links page to visit Willie C’s website to stay on top of the latest
Carolina Beach Music news!
Here are some more photos from the Charleston
Beach Music Festival. Enjoy!
Click on Photos to Enlarge! Then click Back Arrow to return to the
Gallery.
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2008 Charleston Beach Music & Shag Festival Poster
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Charlie & Pam in Charleston, 2008
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The Fabulous Shades
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Billy Scott's Van
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Billy Scott
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Billy Scott & Cindy Floyd with the Party Prophet Band
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Willie C & Billy Scott
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Billy Scott & Pam
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Billy Scott & Charlie
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Wallstreet
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Pam & Wallstreet's Odell Mickens
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Maurice Williams
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Maurice Williams & Zodiacs
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Charlie & Willie C
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Pam & Willie C
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Angel Rissoff & Rickey Godfrey Band
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Willie C & Harriett
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Charlie, Pam & Tams' Charles Pope
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Charles Pope's Tams
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Tams' Lil' Redd
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Tams' Charles Pope
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Tams' Joe Jones with Charlie
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The following photos from the Tams' Performance
don't require further explanation!
Click on Photos to Enlarge! Then click Back Arrow to return to the
Gallery.
Copyright © 2008, Classic Urban Harmony LLC.
All Rights Reserved.
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