Some of the bar fights were as legendary as the groups. The Beachcomber upped the ante, when they occasionally brought out 'name' rock acts, like The Ronettes, and The Drifters and our tiny town just overflowed with people coming from all over Long Island to listen, dance, and fight. She packed the place and her nearest competition,The Beachcomber, which was just across the street, also started booking rock acts. It was probably around 1960 - 61, that Greta kind of took over running things at Schulte's and started to book straight Rock & Roll bands. In the summertime, Mastic Beach's population would explode with hundreds of people coming out for the summers from Brooklyn, Queens,The Bronx etc. We were too young to get in the place, but talked about getting to play in there with our own band one day.

On Friday and Saturday nights around 58 - 59, Doug Percoco, my friend, neighbor & first guitar playing buddy ( by 1960 we became the Ventures of Mastic Beach )and I would listen and look in the rear window of the joint, which was near the stage. They packed Schulte's Stable from around 1957-59. The Country Swingbillys were Jim Hand, Bob Vollmer, Jimmy Daniels, and Ed Nesbitt. For some large families the price of a Fender Stratocaster might as well be as much as a commercial elevator cost Families may not want to buy an elevator for their home,but they do want to provide a memorable Christmas for all their children.

IF she only knew how serious I was back then, there would of been a Gibson Les Paul Goldtop, Fender Stratocaster in Sunburst, or Gretsch Country Club in Cadillac Green or perhaps all three under the tree. She got me a uke instead for the simple reasons that One: She knew how to play one and felt she could get me started on the right path, Two: She could afford a halfway decent uke, but a decent guitar was beyond the Christmas budget of getting some nice things for all three of us _ my sister, brother and me and Three: She wasn't sure if I was serious !.

It was Christmas of 1956 and I got my first guitar,well it wasn't actually a guitar, although I had been bugging and dropping HINTS to my Mom for one since that summer. I remember a lot of it like it was yesterday,and yet for me it started back when I was 10 years old. A Small Sample Of The Groups & The Musicians That Kept Several Million Long Islandersĭancing, Drinking and Duking It Out For 30 Some Wild Years From Brooklyn - Montauk

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