It was the summer of 1967 and my world on Reynolds Street was not as fun as it could have been.
My mom was not well. She was failing. She would only be with us for a few more months.
These were sad times for dad and I. We wanted mom to get better, but it just wouldn’t be.
But we still managed to have good times. We laughed a lot. We got most of our enjoyment from the TV and radio — and the record player.
Back then I would purchase almost every album that came out, eager to listen over and over to those amazing songs by those amazing groups that were changing the world in every way.
For the most part, mom enjoyed listening to those records almost as much as I did. At a time when she struggled to find comfort, music was one thing she really enjoyed.
One day in the summer of ‘67. I had purchased an album by the Young Rascals. I decided to give a listen and carefully placed it on the turntable and sat in a chair in our front parlor. Mom was sitting in her favorite chair and she was trying to just get some rest. But she gave me the OK to play the record.
Now, the Young Rascals had several rock and roll songs — “Good Lovin’ for example — but they also had several songs that were more easy listening. Some of those songs — “Groovin’,” “A Beautiful Morning,” “I’ve Been Lonely Too Long,” and “How Can I Be Sure,” — my mom really liked.
She asked who was singing those songs, and I told her the group was called the Young Rascals. She asked me to play those songs again, and I did.
Every day for weeks, mom asked me to play those songs. She memorized the lyrics and would sing along. Those songs brought much comfort to a woman who was in great need of comforting.
I can still hear her singing along to those songs and the smile on her face when they began and ended. I will never forget those days.
So when the F.M. Kirby Center for the Performing Arts announced that the Rascals Featuring Felix Cavaliere & Gene Cornish Time Peace Tour was coming to Wilkes-Barre on Nov. 20, those days of their songs and my mom’s love for them came rushing back.
So I called the Kirby Center and requested an interview with Felix Cavaliere, the Rascals lead singer and the guy who wrote those songs. Felix agreed to the interview and we chatted earlier this week.
Let me tell you, it was emotional for both of us. I told Felix why I wanted to interview him — yes, to help promote the show — but more because I wanted to tell him how his songs gave such comfort to my mom.
It was, like I said, an emotional start to the interview.
Felix told me he could relate to my story — he lost his mom when she was in her forties as well.
Lots of emotion was on the table right from the beginning.
We managed to get through the emotion and move on to the return of the Rascals and the reunion of Felix and his longtime friend and original Rascal Gene Cornish.
The two founders of the legendary rock ‘n’ roll band are once again taking to the stage to continue their legacy that started 57 years ago.
Felix, lead singer/songwriter and organist and lead guitarist Gene Cornish, who are Rock & Roll Hall of Fame inductees, will hit the stage this November for the first time since 2018.
“We’re so grateful for the fans, this is for them,” said Cavaliere, whose autobiography “Memoir Of A Rascal … From Pelham, NY to the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame” recently came out.
Unbeknownst to either of us, Felix and I had a connection. When we talked, it was like two old friends reuniting after all too many years.
“Those of us who lost parents at an early age get an appreciation for life,” Felix said.
How true.
“I love this business,” he said. “I love the connection between music and people like your mom — it’s spiritual.”
Felix told me his mom got him started in music by having him take piano lessons where he exclusively studied classical music.
“My mom saw that I had talent in me,” Felix said. “For eight years, three times a week, I had a piano lesson where I learned the classics. My mom made sure I made it to all my lessons.”
When Felix entered junior high school, he said he had never heard of rock and roll. His classmates would talk about it so much that he decided to check it out at home.
“I heard people playing the same instrument as me — like Ray Charles for example — and I immediately became a fan of the music and I tried to play that way,” Felix said.
That realization resulted in Felix writing, singing and performing all those great Rascals tunes.
“It’s really an amazing feeling to write songs that people want to buy the records and pay to see you play those songs,” Felix said. “It’s very humbling.”
Felix wanted to find out where this talent was coming from — he believes it’s a divine connection.
“Absolutely it is,”he said. “Over the years, the music just kept flowing, flowing, flowing.”
Felix said his musical message has always been to stand for peace, love, and happiness.
His music brought all of that to my mom — and she was comforted.
I’m glad I had the opportunity to tell him.