Well, OK. Asbury Park, NJ, didn’tactually ban Rock & Roll from the entire city,only the boardwalk area. And the ban didn’treally last very long. Still, in the eyes of theworld in 1956, Asbury Park was at the forefrontof the fight against this devil’s music that wasdriving the country’s youth to sex, drugs, moraldepravity and juvenile delinquency.

For the folks on Asbury Park’spredominantly African American West Side, theinfectious beat and blue notes of Rhythm &Blues had been known for some years. But bythe mid-1950’s, white American teenagers werebeing exposed to this music in great numbersthrough local radio. Now called “Rock & Roll”the music faced serious backlash from alarmedparents who feared the music’s “animalisticbeat” and often risque lyrics were leading theirchildren into juvenile delinquency. Some of thebacklash was to be expected when a youngergeneration’s music begins to replace that of anolder generation. But much of the criticism wasbased on systemic racism and fear that blackmusic was a corrupting influence on ourcountry’s white youth. Fear of Rock & Rolllessened slightly with the emergence of whiteartists like Bill Haley and Elvis Presley singingRock & Roll, but the process took time. Andcivic and religious leaders continued to fan theflames of fear for several years.

One of the first area outcries againstRock & Roll happened in nearby Long Branch,NJ, in July 1955, when the Ja-Da La MartiniqueClub began booking Rock & Roll entertainers.Complaints rolled in to the Long Branch BoardOf Commissioners that the club’s loud Rock &Roll music was keeping neighbors up at night.One complainer opined, “ It (Rock & Roll

music) is absolutely animalistic. It’s like havinghuman beings revert back to animals.”

At the same time, Asbury Park initiallyseemed to embrace the new music. Bill Haley &the Comets, whose popularity was greatlyboosted by the inclusion of “Rock Around TheClock” in the beginning of the movieBlackboard Jungle, were booked to play theCasino over the 1955 Fourth of July weekend.The Casino, at the south end of Asbury Park’sboardwalk boasted the largest dance floor inNew Jersey along with 3000 seats and a snackbar.

“The City that Banned Rock & Roll”Excerpted from the forthcoming book,

Springwood Avenue Harmony:The Unique Musical Heritage of Asbury Park”s

West Side (1880 - 1980)

By Charlie Horner and Pamela Horner

10

Bill Haley & Comets

Haley’s appearance to start the 1955summer season marked the first time in twentyyears there’d been dancing at the Casino.Competing against the more popish McGuireSisters at Convention Hall at the other end ofthe boardwalk, Bill Haley drew 4,100 the firstday and another 2,300 the next night. Whileyoungsters jitterbugged through most of theshow, they crowded around the bandstand athousand strong when the Comets broke into“Shake Rattle & Roll” and “Rock Around TheClock”. Joseph Rediker, operator of the Casino,obviously took note of the popularity of Rock &Roll.

Meanwhile, Asbury Parks movie theaterswere also capitalizing on the popularity of Rock& Roll. In addition to Blackboard Jungleplaying at the Mayfair Theatre in April, byAugust the Savoy Theatre in downtown AsburyPark was running Rock ‘N’ Roll Review, an allblack musical film starring the Clovers, RuthBrown, Joe Turner and others.

The first real Rock & Roll show in AsburyPark’s Convention Hall was most likely theEaster Monday Rock & Roll Dance with TitoPuente, Gene & Eunice, Chuck Willis and theChords on April 11, 1955. Presented by AsburyPark’s West Side Athletic Association and likelyhad a predominately black audience.

In the black community, teenagers wereemulating the vocal groups they were hearingon records and the radio. In Asbury Park High

School, the Mar-Keys were harmonizing in thegymnasium. At Neptune High School, on theedge of Asbury Park, a February 1956 assemblyprogram featured student vocal quintet, theSilitones, singing songs by their favorite groups- “At My Front Door” (El Dorados), “Crazy ForYou” (Heartbeats), “Hey Senorita” (Penguins)and “A Thousand Stars” (Rivileers). A secondNeptune High School group, the Citations, sang“Chapel In The Moonlight” (Orioles), “Rockin-n-Rollin” (Heartbeats), “Foolish Dreams” (Fi-Tones) and “Magic Rose” (Solitaires).

By Easter weekend 1956, Rock & Rollwas full steam ahead in Asbury Park. Bill Haley& the Comets were brought back, this time toConvention Hall. The ensemble played a onenight gig there on Saturday March 31. It wasreported that Bill Haley had sold five millionrecords in the past twelve months.

Bill Haley would write in his diary,“Played tonight in Convention Hall, AsburyPark, New Jersey. $1,750 - 3,112 people. A newopening day record for here.”

Two days later an all black Rhythm &Blues concert ran at Convention Hall under theguise of Rock ‘N Roll. In what was becoming anannual tradition, former Asbury Park radiopersonality Georgie Hudson, now with WNJRin Newark, hosted the 3rd Annual EasterMonday Ball. Advertised as “For The FirstTime! Rock ‘N Roll [at] Convention Hall,” it, ofcourse, was not. The previous year’s EasterMonday Ball qualified as Rock & Roll as did theBill Haley concert and dance two days before.But the 3rd Easter Monday Ball was significant

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by the line up featured. The bill looked like awho’s who of the day’s top black performers -the Nutmegs, the Hurricanes, the Fi-Tones,Piano Red and his band and Al Savage. By allreports, the Convention Hall event wentsmoothly - a calm before the storm.

By the start of the summer, while PatBoone was playing Convention Hall, AsburyPark WJLK radio personality, Les Roberts, wasbringing Rock & Roll shows to nearby Belmar,NJ. A May 20 show at the Deck, F Street and 5th

Avenue, featured James Shepard & theHeartbeats (“Darling How Long”), Don Bruce(“Love Leads A Fool” recorded with the FourBeats) and Bob Oakes & the Sultans. Whileboth the Heartbeats and Don Bruce were blackR&B performers, Bob Oakes and his Sultanswere a white Rock & Roll band in the style of BillHaley’s Comets. Their recording of “You GottaRock & Roll” had just been released by RegentRecords in Newark. Interestingly, the flip was aR&R version of the black vocal group, Willows,’“Church Bells May Ring”.

Three weeks later, on June 9, 1956, LesRoberts was back at the Deck, this time with thehelp of Georgie Hudson. Performing wereHarlem’s Willie Winfield & the Harptones, hotoff their recording of “What Is Your Decision”.Opening for the Harptones were again BobOakes & his Sultans. Sadly, newspaper adsmisprinted the Harptones name as the “HarpTongs”. That same night, the Platters playedConvention Hall without incident.

Spurred on by the success of Bill Haley &the Comets and Platters at Convention Hall andthe recent black Rock & Roll acts at the EasterMonday Ball, the Rediker brothers were readyto bring in the hottest black Rock ‘N Roll act.The Rediker brothers, Joseph, William andAlbert Rediker, had been leasing ConventionHall from the City to produce dances andconcerts for the past ten years. Originally fromBrooklyn, the Rediker brothers had relocated tothe Jersey Shore around 1940 and openedReeds Jewelers with stores in Asbury Park,Long Branch, Red Bank and Freehold. TheRediker brothers also owned or operatednumerous venues in and around Asbury Park

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including Convention Hall, which they leasedfrom the city from 1946 to 1956. Pastentertainers there were mostly big bands andother “Pop” acts. The R&B shows like theEaster Monday Balls were likely not theRedikers’ shows.

The Rediker brothers booked FrankieLymon & the Teenagers to headline a dance andconcert at Convention Hall on June 30, 1956.Frankie Lymon & the Teenagers had risen to thetop of the entertainment field in a very shortperiod of time. Their debut record, “Why DoFools Fall In Love” was recorded the first weekof December, 1955. It first hit the national R&BCharts in February 1956, soon moving to #1. ByMarch it had crossed over onto the Pop Chartswhere it would reach #6. Led by charismatic13-year-old Frankie Lymon, the Teenagers hadit all - the catchy songs, the great harmony andchoreography taught by dance legend ChollyAdkins. Most of all, they had personality.Teenagers across the country, both black andwhite identified with them. If Frankie Lymoncould make it big, why couldn’t they?

Frankie Lymon & the Teenagers had justwrapped up a 47-date bus tour, “The BiggestRock ‘n’ Roll Show of 1956,” on June 5. Thattour package had also included Bill Haley &Comets, the Platters, Bo Diddley, the Drifters,LaVern Baker, Clyde McPhatter, Big JoeTurner, Red Prysock, Shirley & Lee, RoyHamilton, the Five Keys and the Turbans.

Teenagers’ Jimmy Merchant explainedthat before the tour started up again in the Fall,the Teenagers accepted some individual gigs.

Opening for the Teenagers atConvention Hall would be the Freddy PriceOrchestra, a white big band. Newspapers saidthe Freddy Price Orchestra was straight out ofHollywood.

Advertisements said the event would runfrom 8 PM to 1 AM. It was obvious from thebeginning that Frankie Lymon and theTeenagers would draw a big crowd. As theaudience began filing in, it would soon reachmore than 2,700 youngsters. Convention Hallcould hold that many as there were few seats.Attendees mostly stood on the Convention Hall

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Post card of Frankie & Lymon & Teenagers with Georgie Hudson.Hudson got his radio start in Asbury Park.

Courtesy of the Paul Ressler Archives

floor, as was customary for dances. Theaudience was a mix of black and white youth,many of whom had come from as far away asNewark and Philadelphia.

Future Superior Court Judge. IraKreizman, was working the concession standthat night. The then 15-year-old, was thenephew of the Rediker brothers and was sellingorangeade for 25 cents a glass, right on theConvention Hall floor.

The youngsters were not there to see theFreddy Price Orchestra and as the night woreon, they became more and more unruly. From8 o’clock on they waited to see the Teenagers.Most reports have the Teenagers coming on justbefore 11 PM.

As Frankie Lymon & the Teenagersbounded onto the stage, the audience surgedforward to get a better look. “It got morecrowed and more crowded,” recalled Ira. “Andpeople started pushing toward the front. Andone thing led to another. You know, ‘Don’t pushme.’ And pretty soon they started brawling.”

The Redikers had hired five reservepolicemen as security that night. On thesurface, five security officers for 2700

youngsters seems thin, but no one wasexpecting any trouble.

Just as the Teenagers broke into theirintroductory song, the first fight broke out. TheRedikers ordered the doors to Convention Hallclosed so no one else could get in and securitystopped the concert to break up the fight.

With order restored, Frankie & theTeenagers started into their second song. But,more fights broke out, this time near theconcession stand.

The concert was again stopped mid-song. A call was sent out for more police at11:06 PM. A decision was made to clear the hall,but not until more police arrived. By then itseemed like all hell had broken loose.

“I guy came up to me and said, ‘Do youhave any napkins?’, recalled Ira Kreizman. “Isaid, ‘No, we just have drinks.’ He said, ‘I’vebeen stabbed.’ He was bleeding. He had hispants partly down and he was bleeding. Wesaid, ‘It’s a good time for us to be leaving.’ Iraand the Rediker brothers father, Jacob Rediker,grabbed the cash box and headed for the exit.

A call went out for all available AsburyPark police officers. First on the scene wereSergeant Joseph Friedland along with Sergeant

14

Thomas Smith (the force’s only black detective)and Patrolmen David Cienski and Sal Strano.They managed to get the fighting under controlin the hall. But shortly before midnight, policeordered Convention Hall cleared. As the crowdspilled out into the arcade and boardwalk, thefighting began anew.

“The promenade around ConventionHall used to have rocking chairs,” rememberedIra. “Like the old straw rocking chairs. Peopleused to sit out there and enjoy the oceanbreezes. But [the rioters] took those rockingchairs, knocked the rockers off and used themas clubs. They were swinging these clubs thatwere about four feet long. It was really wild.Fights were breaking out all over.”

As 2,700 angry young men and womenstormed onto the boardwalk from theircanceled concert, they ran into 75,000attendees of a VFW convention who had justfinished watching their 4th of July parade.Overwhelmed, the four police officers radioedheadquarters for back up. With no moreofficers on duty that night, headquartersSergeant James Leone put out an urgent call forpolice officers county wide to help quell thefighting. Within minutes, police arrived fromRed Bank to Point Pleasant. Military policefrom Fort Monmouth and State Police from theShrewsbury barracks also heeded the call.

By then fighting had spread onto OceanAvenue and beyond. Police took up positionsalong Ocean Avenue, using nightsticks whennecessary, to keep the crowds moving. Trafficwas rerouted. Roving cars filled with teenagersfrom the concert shattered a few windowsincluding the plate glass window of theWoolworth Five and Dime store on CookmanAvenue. Police even considered calling firemento turn their hoses on the crowds but relativecalm was restored before that was necessary.

Meanwhile, back inside ConventionHall, Frankie Lymon & the Teenagers wereushered off the stage and toward the dressingrooms as soon as the fighting began.

James Pleasant, Convention Hallcustodian, was on the stage when the fightingbegan. “It seemed spontaneous,” he said. “TheTeenagers had just started their second numberand suddenly the fists started flying.” Pleasant

said youngsters frightened by the fighting triedto climb on stage to get out of the way.

One of the youngsters who climbed ontothe stage to avoid the fighting was Tim Hauser,future singer with the doo wop group theCriterions and founder of the vocalese group,Manhattan Transfer.

Timothy DuPron Hauser was bornDecember 12, 1941 in Troy, NY, but moved withhis family to the Wanamassa section of OceanTownship near Asbury Park area when he wasseven. As a fifteen-year-old, Tim attended theFrankie Lymon concert at Convention Hall withsome friends.

“We heard the bottles break andeverybody dispersed,” Tim recalled. Separatedfrom his friends, Tim crawled onto the stage toavoid the fighting. Tim knew his way aroundConvention Hall from previous visits there withBoy Scouts Jamborees. He knew he couldescape the back of the stage. But in the wings hemet a confused Frankie Lymon.

“This kid comes over to me with makeupin his hand and it was Frankie Lymon,” recalledTim Hauser. “He asked, ‘Do you know wherethe dressing rooms are?’ And I did.”

Tim led Frankie Lymon to the dressingroom where the other Teenagers had alreadyretreated. He was invited in and sat on thedressing room floor while the Teenagersrehearsed “I Promise To Remember” acappella.

“It was like a lightning bolt from Godsaying this is where you’re going,” said Tim.

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Tim Hauser and Charlie Horner, 2009From the Classic Urban Harmony Archives

“This is what you’re going to do.” Thatencounter would steer Tim Hauser to a lifetimeof singing.

Outside, the disturbance would go onpast 1:30 in the morning, before being mostlybrought under control. When all said and done,25 were reported hurt but only 3 people neededto be taken to the hospital. Of those, only one,stabbing victim Andrew Lewis of Red Bank wasadmitted. Needing an operation for apunctured intestine, Lewis did eventuallyrecover. Of the 200 involved in the “riot,” onlyten were detained by police. Of those, four werefound innocent, four let go with a stern warningand one fined $100 for disorderly conduct.Only one youth was charged with inciting a riot,caught swinging one of the rocking chair legs.Later, four other youths were indicted onassault charges but the person who assaultedAndrew Lewis with a knife was never caught.

In the end, property damage wasnegligible. No more than a couple ConventionHall rocking chairs were broken and thebuilding itself was not defaced. The policeissued a statement that blamed the riot on “coldbeer and hot music”. While no alcoholicbeverages were sold at Convention Hall, thepolice found plenty of empty beer cans in thehall when it was over.

News of the “Asbury Park Riot” quicklyspread across the country. Newspapers in othercities read into the disturbance what theywanted to believe. Asbury police were quick tosay this was not a race riot. Black youth werefighting black youth, whites were fightingwhites and whites were fighting blacks. Yetsouthern cities that were still segregated (andsome northern city papers) tried to turn thisinto a racial conflict.

“White, Negro Youths Clash DuringDance” proclaimed a Tampa Bay newspaper.“Race Riot Hits New Jersey Park” screamed theheadline of a Mississippi newspaper. “RaceFight Injures 28; 25 Arrested” blared page oneof a Louisiana newspaper. Even a paper inSalem, OR, headlined “Teen-Age Race RiotsHurt 28 In New Jersey” and a Syracuse, NY,newspaper announced “Youths Trigger Riot ofRaces At Asbury Park”.

So, if race was not to blame for the riot, itmust have been the music! Especially when a

week later, a similar riot occurred at a jampacked Rock ‘N’ Roll dance in San Jose, CA. [Ineerie similarity to the Asbury Park Riot, theSan Jose Riot started with a thrown beer bottlein an overcrowded venue with 2500 youth.]

Fear of Rock & Roll now gripped manymunicipalities across the country. A week-and-a-half after the Asbury Park Riot, officials inJersey City, NJ, refused to allow a Rock & Rollconcert to proceed. The concert, billed as “Rock‘n’ Roll Under the Stars” with Bill Haley & theComets was slated for the 24,000 seatRoosevelt Stadium four days later. Big bandleader, Paul Whiteman, who’d been scheduledto emcee the event tried meekly to defend themusic, saying it was just a fad that wouldn’t last.Jersey City officials cited Asbury Park as one ofthe reasons for canceling the event.

The next day, July 11, 1956, the City ofAsbury Park banned Rock & Roll from thebeachfront music venues, including ConventionHall and the Casino. In a meeting with CityCouncil, Acting Mayor Roland J. Hines decidedthat city officials will screen future danceprograming at the boardwalk halls to prevent arepetition of the June 30 mass fighting. Rock& Roll music was considered too “over-stimulating” for the area’s youth.

Mayor Hines said he’d been atConvention Hall on the night of the fighting butleft just as Frankie Lymon & the Teenagersbegan to sing. “When they started singing,Hines said, “I watched some of the kids. Theyjust seemed to lose control of themselves.”Citing the San Jose Riot and the banning ofRock &Roll in Jersey City, he added, “Thesituation we had down there is almost national.Obviously it’s a common thing. Council is goingto be very careful not to rent to any group thatwill give us trouble…. The city will screen outRock & Roll and the rest of this hot music thatseems to stir the kids up so much.”

While technically, Asbury Park’s ban onRock & Roll only pertained to the beachfrontCasino and Convention Hall (and most likely tothe Paramount Theatre) newspapers aroundthe country ran headlines like “New JerseyTown Bans Rock ‘N’ Roll After Dance Riot.”Thus Asbury Park became known, temporarilyat least, as the “city that banned Rock & Roll”.

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On the beachfront, for a while, the banheld. A reporter asked New Jersey GovernorRobert Meyner if he thought it was wise formunicipal officials to ban Rock & Roll concerts.Governor Meyner said he thought it was amunicipal problem; that such concerts could bealright with supervision but without adequatesupervision there’d be trouble. Asked if he’dever heard Rock & Roll, the governor replied,“I’ve heard by radio and television some of thismusic, but of course, it doesn’t appeal to me.Maybe that’s because I’m considered mature.”

No more major dances were scheduledfor the Casino or Convention Hall for the rest of1956. In planning for 1957, the Redikerbrothers mostly played it safe with big bandsand pop singers. Scheduled for ConventionHall in 1957 were Duke Ellington, Joni James,Lionel Hampton, the Hilltoppers and the FourAces. Did they book any Rock N’ Roll singers in1957? Well, yes, but they picked only the safest,most refined [meaning white] groups like theEverly Brothers and the Canadian cover group,the Diamonds.

But in venues beyond the beachfrontarea, Rock & Roll music continued to thrive.On February 10, 1957, the Savoy Theatre onMattison Avenue in downtown Asbury Park,featured one of the wildest Rock & Roll shows inthe country. For one day only (three shows),they welcomed in Little Richard and his band,the Cadillacs, the Cleftones, Jerry Dorn, thePells and Harriet Kay. In little more than thepast year, Little Richard has scored eight R&BChart Top Ten records in a row, including“Tutti-Frutti,” Long Tall Sally,” “Slippin’ AndSlidin’,” “Rip It Up,” “Ready Teddy,” HeebyJeebies,” “She’s Got It,” and “The Girl Can’tHelp It.” If Little Richard couldn’t whip youngteenagers into over-stimulation, what would?On top of that you had the fast stepping R&Bgroup, the Cadillacs and more. Opening for thisshow was the local Asbury Park West Side vocalgroup, the Mar-Keys, featuring a young LennyWelch. According to Lenny, there were nofights after that concert,

And across the tracks along SpringwoodAvenue, the ban on Rock & Roll meant nothing.And it would be the West Side’s Arthur Morriswho would bring Rock & Roll back toConvention Hall by 1960. Read more in our

forth coming book, Springwood AvenueHarmony: The Unique Musical Heritage ofAsbury Park’s West Side (1880 - 1980.

* * * * *

17

Classic Urban Harmony presents…Live in Concert…

ACAPPELLA REUNIONMemories of UGHA

Five Vocal Groups from Years PastClifton Records Recording Stars

Reunited For One Last Time* The SHEPS * CHOICE* The CLIIFTONAIRES

* PATTY & STREET-TONES /MIXED COMPANY

* GRAND CENTRAL ECHOESw/ original member John Kuse of Excellents

ONE NIGHT ONLY!!!!7 PM Friday Oct 4, 2019

Morris Museum’s Bickford Theatre6 Normandy Heights Rd, Morristown NJ

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