Middletown's Famous Music, From Phileas Fogg’s Journal:
Following the Heritage Trail today in Middletown, I returned again to the South Green and learned a bit about Middletown’s Famous Musicians. Near the bust of Henry Clay Work on this Green is a Heritage Trail marker that told me about a few of Middletown’s famous musicians. Henry Clay Work’s most popular composition was “Grandfather’s Clock” This 1875 song sold nearly a million copies and earned the then considerable sum of $4,000 in royalties. The Middletown Native, Elias Paul “Allie” Wrubel won the Acadamy Award for best song in 1947 for “Zip-A-Dee-Doo-Da” written for the movie, “Song of the South.” From the Big Band era, Middletown claims Tony Pastor who grew up in Middletown’s North End as Tony Pestritto, the son of immigrants from Mellili, Sicily. Tony is most famous for his solo “Begin the Beguine” with the Artie Shaw Band. I think of my trip recently to the Coffee House Recording Studio and I can’t help but wonder which Middletown Musician will next be famous enough to be added to this historical marker on the Heritage Trail?
2 comments:
Let's not forget Ed Blackwell, jazz drummer extraordinaire.
Thank you, Phileas for discovering the Heritage Trail Markers, which are a project of the Middlesex County Historical Society, an organization worthy of support, if you are so inclined, as it is so much needed at this time due to lack of a functioning furnace and impending cold weather.
Funding for the markers originally came from Liberty Bank, Msx Community Foundation, Humanities Council, I think, and maybe some others that I can't remember at the moment, but we thank them all (see the markers for the complete list of funders for the project.)
Trail markers placards soon to be replaced with new ones (same placards, same information, just bright and shiny new plexiglass sheets, as soon as the committee finds some free time to install them).
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