C-VILLE contributor John Ruscher mentioned the new edition of the UVA alumni magazine in a recent review, and that magazine’s print edition came in the mail earlier this week.
The issue’s cover story, "Rockin’ the Grounds," provides a nice primer on a host of local bands that were, at one time another, the biggest thing going in Charlottesville, from Johnny Sportcoat and the Casuals, to The Deal (who recorded with the late, great Alex Chilton), to modern day bands like Sons of Bill and Parachute. Can you guess who is on the magazine’s cover? (Check out a jukebox feature at the bottom of an interactive website that lets you listen to almost every one of the groups here.)
The magazine shares some photos in common with a new book about the history of Charlottesville, appropriately titled Charlottesville, by Eryn Brennan and Margaret Maliszewski (the book is part of the "Images of America" series—there’s probably one about your hometown.) One in particular caught my eye: It’s of a contorted Chuck Berry playing a big red Gibson to a huge crowd of clean-cut guys in suits. On the opposite page is an image of Joan Baez, who visited UVA in 1965 on the same night as Harry S. Truman. The crowd in that picture is sitting quietly before her—she’s not even holding a guitar.
Other incredible images from the book: One of The Supremes playing Mem Gym in 1966, Duke Ellington at UVA in 1961, and, earlier, Fats Domino playing in 1959. It’s enough to make a modern local music lover pine for a more "authentic" time.
What we don’t see in the UVA magazine and in the book is a clear picture of what was happening in the non-UVA community around that time. What were some legendary shows at the Paramount? When the C&O used to host more music? Was there a great band from the past, loved by all, that today has been forgotten?
Chuck Berry at Memorial Gym in 1965, by Ed Roseberry.
