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The summer of 1969

Memorable season recalled at Blossom Music Center

By Mark J. Price
Beacon Journal staff writer

Published on Monday, Jun 29, 2009

 

It was the summer of Apollo 11, Woodstock and Helter Skelter, a tumultuous time of triumph and tragedy. Our cultural cauldron simmered with Vietnam protests, racial tensions, political disputes and generational differences.

Northeast Ohio residents found sanctuary in the rolling hills of Northampton Township. Blossom Music Center supplied a perfect soundtrack for the summer of 1969.

The Cleveland Musical Arts Association, which built the summer home of the Cleveland Orchestra, opened the $6.6 million complex the previous July with an abbreviated season. It booked an ambitious schedule of 50 events in 1969.

The concert season featured a little bit of everything — from classical (Itzhak Perlman, Van Cliburn) . . . to folk (Joan Baez, Peter, Paul and Mary) . . . to comedy (Bill Cosby, Dan Rowan, Dick Martin) . . . to jazz (Duke Ellington, Ella Fitzgerald) . . . to country (Chet Atkins, Roy Clark) to R&B (Dionne Warwick, B.B. King) . . . to you name it (Liberace, the Singing Angels).

Tickets ranged from $2 general admission to $5 reserved.

Music fans were drawn to the 4,600-seat pavilion and its gently sloping lawn surrounded by 500 acres of beautiful countryside. Steels Corners Road was just a two-lane blacktop in those days.

''The pavilion was perfect for enjoying the beautiful music in a natural setting with a picnic area surrounding,'' recalled retired Hudson Postmaster Ronald R. Rose, 82, who lives in Florida with his wife, June, 81.

They applied to work at Blossom because they adored the world-class orchestra and its music director, George Szell.

''Oh, it was out of this world,'' Rose said. ''George Szell was tops. That's why we volunteered — because of the orchestra.''

Blossom recruited University of Akron music majors and band members to serve as ushers because of their appreciation for the arts. Rose supervised a platoon of young ushers, who wore gold blazers and dress clothes.

''We had to provide our own dark skirt and white blouse, and the guys had to wear dark pants and a white shirt,'' recalled former usher Carol S. Zeh, 59, of New Franklin, who joined the staff as a UA student.

There was a great camaraderie among ushers. They tossed Frisbees around on the lawn before patrons arrived and attended parties after patrons left.

''It was like a little family,'' she said. ''It was a lot of fun.''

Besides showing patrons to seats, Blossom ushers acted as security and ran errands.

''I can remember some of the rock stars that were out there,'' Zeh said. ''Literally, the ushers were asked to form human chains, arm to arm, across the front of the stage so people couldn't climb up.''

Ron Syroid, 63, of Akron, has recollections as a former director of ushering at Blossom. He, too, joined as a UA student.

''It was an astounding time,'' he said. ''So many different kinds of things were going on.''

Syroid laughed as he recounted the night he broke the silence in the pavilion as Maestro Szell raised his baton to conduct.

''I have hay fever and I sneezed and it just carried through that band shell wonderfully,'' he said. ''And George Szell looked at me and he bowed, 'May I continue?' ''

Then there was the night that rock band Vanilla Fudge showed up five hours late. The group flew by private plane July 8 from Montreal to North Hampton, Ohio, near Dayton, instead of Northampton Township.

Realizing the error, the band flew back. More than 3,000 fans were still present when the Fudge arrived at 12:30 a.m. The concert lasted two hours.

A year before her death, rock legend Janis Joplin delivered an energetic performance Aug. 29 to a Blossom audience of about 8,000. She shimmied and swayed as she belted out bluesy tunes.

''Every time I come onstage, I see all these middle-class kids sitting still, their legs crossed, hardly breathing,'' Joplin told the crowd. ''Then I begin to sing, and they come alive. They're standing and moving and deep-breathing living and smiling and yelling with joy. That's what I see. And I love it.''

Syroid recalled that Joplin had a rider in her contract for five fifths of Southern Comfort to be delivered in the Green Room. He and another usher delivered bottles in a tub filled with ice.

''So I got a chance to meet Janis Joplin,'' he said.

She invited him to an after-concert party where she played piano and sang to about 60 friends and musicians.

''She was just gracious about introducing me around to different people,'' he said.

One of Zeh's vivid memories is the storm that struck a Fourth of July concert by Broadway composer Meredith Willson, creator of The Music Man.

''Oh, my God in heaven, as long as I've lived, I've never seen a storm like that,'' she said.

Almost without warning, the sky turned black. Wind gusts bent trees, rain fell in sheets and lightning struck the ground.

''OK, everybody inside the pavilion,'' Willson announced.

The power went out, but the orchestra kept playing, keeping the huddled audience entertained. When the storm subsided, Blossom set off fireworks.

Rose became a part of the King Family's show July 11 when the ushers arranged for the family act to sing Happy Birthday to him. They presented a big cake with a replica of Blossom.

''What a surprise,'' he said.

His birthday was Aug. 1.

Comedians Rowan and Martin, hosts of NBC-TV's Laugh-In, brought the ''Sock It to Me Gang'' for two shows July 14-15, featuring Ruth Buzzi, Goldie Hawn and others.

Rowan: ''You got a lot of nerve going to a nudist camp.''

Martin: ''Not me. I play the guitar.''

Rowan: ''Well, what do you do at a nudist camp?''

Martin: ''Oh, we stare a lot.''

Cosby performed a standup act Aug. 30 before 13,000 fans. The crowd laughed over his wry observations, including a bit about attending a Catholic Mass in Latin.

''I asked my wife what the priest was saying and she didn't know,'' Cosby said. ''What if he was saying 'The world is coming to an end; go get an asbestos suit?' They ain't gonna sneak that by you in a Protestant service. If you need an asbestos suit, they'll tell you right off.''

Unquestionably, the biggest event of the year was the Aug. 26 show by Blood, Sweat & Tears.

Automobiles clogged the roads for hours. Opening act John Denver had to stall because the headliners abandoned their bus near the Ohio Turnpike and walked five miles to Blossom.

A record-shattering crowd of 24,364 was announced, but there were thousands more there.

''People were coming up over the fences,'' Syroid said. ''It looked like a charge of Gettysburg.''

Rose's wife, June, was working at the gates when a young man tried to sneak in.

''She grabbed him and sent him back out,'' Rose said. ''She then realized what she had just done, as he was about 6-foot-5.''

The knolls behind the pavilion were filled with people who couldn't see the stage. They were content to listen.

''There was really nothing you could do about it,'' Zeh said.

The season concluded Sept. 1 with a concert by Baez, who had performed two weeks earlier at Woodstock.

''If we are going to get out of the 20th century alive, we are going to have to have a revolution,'' she told 11,000 fans.

The summer was ending. Soon the 1960s would end, too.

''It was an absolute wonderful year,'' Zeh said.

Syroid agreed: ''It was a tremendous experience. It was just really enjoyable.''

 

Mark J. Price is a Beacon Journal copy editor. He can be reached at 330-996-3850 or send e-mail to mjprice@thebeaconjournal.com.

 

 

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