This is the only full scale history of the world famous Apollo Theatre. Still presenting top black stars from P. Diddy to Chris Rock -- since the Apollo has probably exerted a greater influence upon popular culture than any other entertainment venue in the world. A classic text, newly updated, Showtime at the Apollo has over photos interspersed throughout.
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About the Author
Ted Fox is also the author of "In The Groove" a collection of interviews with the men who shaped the music industry. He co-produces and manages four-time Grammy nominee Buckwheat Zydeco and lives in Upstate New York.
Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.
THE 60s
They had waited for hours on lines that stretched for blocks around the Apollo. On an October evening in 1962 there was no more exciting way for these freshly scrubbed black kids dressed in their finest apparel to spend an evening. At last they were inside, their eager faces turned toward the stage in anticipation, knowing they were to witness something spectacular. They cheered the band's instrumental warm-up numbers and the Hortense Allen dancers. Then the moment they had been waiting for arrived.
The master of ceremonies strode on stage and announced: "So now, ladies and gentlemen, it's Startime! Are you ready for Startime?" An explosive "Yeah!" greeted him. "Thank you kindly," replied the m.c. as he began his lengthy buildup. "It is indeed a great pleasure to present to you at this particular time, nationally and internationally known as the 'Hardest-Working Man in Show Business,' the man who sings ‘I’ll Go Crazy.' . . ." There was a Flourish of trumpets, and the audience roared in recognition. "'Try me' . . ." As each song was announced, the trumpets blared in crescendo, and the crowd screamed. Finally, after eight more titles, the m.c. bellowed, "Mr. Dynamite, the amazing Mr. 'Please, Please' himself-the star of the show, James Brown and the Famous Flames!" Instantly the Flames launched into a rapid instrumental break, and the kids in the Apollo erupted as, seconds later, James Brown bounded on stage. When he grabbed the mike, the music abruptly stopped. "You know I feel alright," he moaned. "You know I feel alright, children." Then wailed, "I feeeeeeel aaalriiiiiiiight!!"
As all twenty-two members of the band fell in behind him, James Brown reached out, grabbed the ecstatic kids in the Apollo audience, and lifted them out of the ghetto to a place where everything was alright.
For much of the sixties, James Brown owned the Apollo Theatre outright. With this devastating 1962 show, he made his down payment. He had been around since the mid-fifties when, as a down-and-out singer with a gospel background, he appeared on the theatre's Amateur Night. Gradually, from his destitute youth in rural Georgia, he worked his way up to a talented rhythm-and-blues attraction backing up Little Willie John, Etta James, and Hank Ballard and the Midnighters at the Apollo, then to a powerful entertainer who relentlessly rehearsed his outfit until it was the premier r-and-b show band on the chitlin' circuit of Southern and ghetto theatres. He earned the nickname "The Hardest- Working Man in Show Business" by playing over three hundred nights a year, doing spectacular shows.
"We started going to the Apollo Theatre regularly," said Danny Ray, who has been Brown's m.c. for over forty years, "and the crowds started building, because they knew one thing. If you go, you know he's going to stay an hour and a half or two hours onstage. You will get your money's worth out of it. And this reputation began to build."
"He always worried about that," added St. Clair Pinckney, Brown's longtime band director. "Take less money and spend more time onstage. Because he said, ‘If they don't see you, actually see you perform, give it all, then why go?' Get this type of feel onstage and you'll get the money later."
Sam Cooke had sex appeal, Jackie Wilson wowed crowds with his acrobatics, Screamin' Jay Hawkins knew how to shout, but nobody put it all together like James Brown. Dressed in one of his hundreds of self-designed outfits, hair piled high on his head, he would plead, "please, please, please," fall to his knees, then jump up, spin around, scream "aaahoo" into the mike, hydroplane to the left then the right, and finally crash to the floor in his trademark split, seemingly spent. Danny Ray would rush out and drape a royal cape of shimmering velvet over King James's shoulders, and he and a band member would attempt to help the exhausted Brown up. But "Mr. Dynamite" would shake off the robe, wave his aides away, and bounce back for more.
"From the first note things would be jumping," said Ray. "He'd come out onstage with his red tails and white bucks and start dancing, and the crowd would go wild. The minute they'd see us in town they knew it was gonna be excitement."
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Rare and insightful look into one of the most important the,
By A Customer
This review is from: Showtime at the Apollo (Paperback)
Ted Fox has brought us back in time when The Apollo Theatre was historically one of the most important theatres in U.S. history. It was a cultural temple unlike any American theatre and could be compared to few others, possibly only the French turn of the century houses which were performer and audience havens of (their) contemporary pulse. Mr. Fox has done his homework in interviews, research and photo archives. He also offers an in-depth and respectful look at the performers, management and audiences, and as importantly - The Apollo building itself as a cornerstone of the Harlem community through wars, riots, celebrations, fads and cultural milestones. As research for Harlem, Black Studies and American musical culture and its etaffect - it is necessay. As a great read it is just great fun
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
The Mecca of show business,
By The RAWSISTAZ Reviewers (RAWSISTAZ.com and BlackBookReviews.net) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Showtime at the Apollo: The Story of Harlem's World Famous Theater (Paperback)
Have you ever wondered how the Apollo Theatre began? Who was the mastermind behind the Apollo? When did the famous "Amateur Night at the Apollo" begin? The Apollo Theatre is a legend in both the Black and White communities. It was thought by many to be the greatest show business place in the world. If an entertainer could make it at the Apollo, he could make it anywhere. SHOWTIME AT THE APOLLO by Ted Fox is a fine tribute to this legend. Fox traced Apollo's history from the tumultuous beginnings in the 1920's through the heartbreaking decline of the mid-70's and its rebirth in the 1980's. This cultural institution led the way in defining all types of music that changed by decade moving from swing to funk. He also followed the management era when the Apollo was called other names and located at other venues until it came to rest at 125th Street in Harlem with its Jewish owners, the Schiffmans.Ted Fox gave an excellent history lesson on the life of this musical institution known as the Apollo. This theatre exerted a lot of influence on the entertainment industry over several decades. The Apollo could make or break careers. Some of our most memorable entertainment greats can lay claim to the Apollo being the springboard for their success. Fox was brilliant in his research of past performers by including tidbits of their personal experiences to give the full spectrum of the theatre's growth and the love felt by many. For those of you interested in the makings of this phenomenon called the Apollo Theatre, please read this book. It will entertain and enlighten you. This is a wonderful book to add to your collection on music history. Reviewed by Brenda M. Lisbon
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