The Skyliners Live in Concert Suffern, NY 2/1/75

On Saturday evening, February 1, 1975, promoter Drew Cummings of Monsey, New York staged a 20th anniversary of Rock’n’roll concert at the Rockland Community College Field House in Suffern, New York under the Barmann’s Concerts and Productions Inc. banner. The event offered general admission seating and all tickets were priced at $6.75. By comparison, that’s just over $38 in 2024 money. The bill contained six of the most popular and beloved vocal groups from the era: Original lead singer Tony Williams and his Platters, the Drifters (Charlie Thomas, Dock Green, Elsbeary Hobbs, Bobby Ruffin and Abdul Samad), the original Skyliners, The Coasters (Carl Gardner, Earl “Speedo” Carroll, Ronnie Bright, Jimmy Norman and Curly Palmer), Johnny Maestro and the Brooklyn Bridge, and the Five Satins featuring Fred Parris. Television and concert host Clay Cole (1938-2010), a staple on New York’s WPIX and WNTA from 1959 to 1968, was hired to serve as emcee. In addition, the producers arranged to have the concert filmed for syndicated national television broadcast. Two one-hour cuts of the program, “20 Years of Rock & Roll”, were edited, produced, and broadcast on American television in the late 1970s and early 1980s. Apart from Tony Williams, most of whose inebriated performance ended up on the cutting room floor, all the acts – primarily in their late 30s and early 40s, gave a fine accounting of themselves for a highly enthusiastic sold-out audience of over 5,000 who were aware the event was being filmed. Two songs from the Skyliners’ set appeared in the primary one hour edit, their biggest hits “This I Swear” and “Since I Don’t Have You”, originally recorded in 1958-59. The five-person group had gone their separate ways in 1963 but four of the original members (minus original bass Jackie Taylor) reunited in 1970. These four: Lead Jimmy Beaumont (1940-2017), soprano Janet Vogel Rapp (1941-1980), tenor Wally Lester, Jr., (1941-2015) and baritone Joe Verscharen (1940-2007), appeared in this filmed concert. They are joined by longtime arranger, guitarist and musical director Richard Engel. The original quartet remained together until 1976 when Lester and Verscharen retired from touring. Beaumont was still leading the Skyliners in concert appearances at the time of his death in 2017. The available original footage has been presented in chronological order and the audio remixed and synchronized with the video.