The Monday After: Cleveland's Freddie Martin and the 'Fabulous Forties'
A moment in musical history will be brought to life at 7:30 p.m. Friday during the "Fabulous Forties" concert performed by Joseph Rubin and His Orchestra at Canton Palace Theatre.
"In 2019, we did a concert of music of the 1930s, and we wanted to move forward in time to the 1940s," said Rubin, who noted that the concert originally was scheduled for 2020, but was delayed by the pandemic. "It's been two years in the making."
The concert, produced by Rubin's American Musical Productions (formerly Canton Comic Opera Company) will recall 1949 appearances in Canton by Ohio musician and bandleader Freddy Martin.
"He was one of the greats, one of the last Big Band leaders," recalled Rubin. "Freddy Martin and His Orchestra played twice in Canton, both in 1949. On May 8, 1949, he played at Moonlight Ballroom at Meyers Lake. Then he came back Sept. 14 and played at the Palace.
"We're playing the same selections, with his original arrangements, that he played at the Palace."
Rubin noted that the legendary Buckeye bandleader was born in Cleveland and was raised in an orphanage in Springfield. He returned to Cleveland for high school and formed a band in that city on the "North Coast."
The great Guy Lombardo often brought his band to Cleveland and took a liking to Martin's music, so he mentored him, helping get him his first big gigs and "setting him on the path to musical success," said Rubin.
"Martin had a 50-year career including a 25-year engagement at the Cocoanut Grove in Los Angeles," noted a media release promoting the upcoming Palace concert. "Among those who got their start with Martin's Band were Tommy Dorsey, Russ Morgan and vocalist Merv Griffin."
The bandleader died in 1983.
"None of the music we'll be doing has been heard since then," said Rubin. "Most of it hasn't been heard since the 1940s."
Recalling the concerts in Canton
An advertisement published in The Canton Repository on May 5, 1949, promotes Martin's appearance at Meyers Lake with his "singing saxophone" and his orchestra. Admission for the performance that Sunday May 8, 1949, would be $1.25, the ad noted.
Similar ads on Sept. 11 and Sept. 13 in 1949 promoted the appearance of Freddy Martin and His Orchestra at the Palace – "On Stage, In Person" – for a show that, besides Martin and Griffin, featured such entertainers as Stan Wild, Gene Conklin, Robert Spiker and "Canton's Own" Dale Bechtel.
"Accompanying the Martin band was Dale Bechtol, a violin soloist who lived his first 14 years in Canton," said an article in the Repository the day after the 1949 Palace Theatre concert, noting that Bechtol also played the tuba in the Ohio State University marching band during his college days. "After attending Edgefield School, he moved to Akron and then to Mansfield, where his family and parents are now residing."
Rubin noted that Griffin was the band's vocalist at the time of the 1949 Canton concerts, singing such 1940s hits as "Chattanooga Choo Choo," "Don't Sit Under The Apple Tree," and "I've Got A Lovely Bunch Of Coconuts." Those songs will be in the in the upcoming Palace Concert, with the singing performed by vocalist Jay Spencer, who also serves as the organist at the Palace.
Also in the program is Martin's well-known "Calvalcade of Bands" number, which was a tribute to 26 of the greatest big bands, including those of Glenn Miller, Benny Goodman, Harry James, Duke Ellington, and Artie Shaw.
"The goal during the medley is to make the band sound like all of those 26 big bands, by playing the theme songs of each of the bands," explained Rubin. "It's the same medley he did in 1949. Everyone wanted to hear their favorite big band and this was Freddy Martin's way of doing it. We thought it still was a great idea."
Recalling musical history
That medley of theme songs is a way of recalling the musical history of the Big Band Era, noted Rubin.
The concert remembers the musical history of the Canton area, as well, Rubin added.
"This concert is a collaboration between American Musical Productions and Canton Palace Theatre," he explained. "It's wonderful that (Palace officials) are looking back at their history and have been so supportive of what we're doing here.
"We're so thankful that the Palace Theatre wants to go back and recreate the history. And we're lucky that the Palace is still here. It's a fantastic place."
Reserved seating tickets are $26 and can be purchased either in advance or at the door on Friday. For information and tickets visit cantonpalacetheatre.org or call 330-454-8172.
The music at the heart of the concert likely will take audience members back to a time in Canton's history that was cherished.
"We call these concerts living history, weaving music and history," said Rubin, who noted that American Musical Productions is dedicated to preserving and performing historic American musical theater and popular song. "People get a glimmer of what Canton used to be.
"There is nothing quite like the Palace anyway, and we get to highlight a band that actually played there."
Reach Gary at gary.brown.rep@gmail.com. On Twitter: @gbrownREP.
About the concert
WHAT – "The Fabulous Forties"
WHERE – Canton Palace Theatre, 605 Market Ave. N, Canton.
WHEN – 7:30 p.m. Friday.
WHO – Features the music of Ohio-born bandleader Freddy Martin, as played by Joseph Rubin and His Orchestra, with vocalist Jay Spencer
WHY – The concert recalls a concert that the Ohio-born Freddy Martin and His Orchestra played at the Palace in 1949.
HOW – Tickets are $26, with all seats reserved, which can be purchased both in advance and at the door. To purchase tickets and for more information visit cantonpalacethjeatre.org or call 330-454-8172.