Center Stage

t’s hard to believe that close to 50 years have passed since I attended my first concert. I still remember the thrill, as a kid, of seeing my favorite singers up on stage in real life. Back in the day when contemporary Jewish music was just emerging, often it was the exposure from that first public concert that put future stars on the map. What were some of those memorable moments?

THE RABBIS’ SONS, whose first album Halelu came out in June 1967, just after the Six Day War, got their lucky break a month later when the Salute to Israel-Rheingold Music Festival invited them to sing in Central Park. The concert brought thousands upon thousands of all types of Jews together, and the group made history with many of their enduring classics, such as “Mi Ha’ish” and “Rabos Machshavos.” The record was actually slated to be called The Yeshivah Album, and the money was going to go to the Chofetz Chaim yeshivah, where Baruch Chait, the composer of the songs, was studying. Reb Burry played the album for the Rosh Yeshivah, but the Rosh Yeshivah was a little nervous that the songs were a bit too hip, so they changed the name to The Rabbis’ Sons. Label Scharfman, Baruch Chait, and Itzy Weinberger were all sons of prominent rabbis, and Reb Burry always jokes that even though Michael Zeitlin’s father wasn’t a rabbi, he gave him a musical semichah….

Young readers might not be familiar with OHR CHODOSH, but in 1971, Yossi Toiv (aka Country Yossi), along with Rabbi Shmuel Brazil, released their first Ohr Chodosh album entitled The New Light. Trust me when I say that practically every Jewish home owned that record, which featured such classics as “Shmelkie’s Niggun,” “Eileh Barechev,” and “Bilvavi.” And Yossi was only 16 when he composed the hit song, “Aleh Yidden.” Their first live performance was in the summer of 1972 in the Pioneer Hotel, which was famous for showcasing many Jewish performers. And who else was part of the Ohr Chodosh group? There was Nachum Deutsch and Yossi Leiber, and The Messengers were the backup band, conducted by Heshy Walfish on keyboard and Yehudah Isaacs on drums.

What most people don’t know is that before MORDECHAI BEN DAVID came out with his mega hit album Hineni in 1974, he’d actually recorded an album the previous year, called Mordechai Ben David Original Chassidic Niggunim. It’s a bit of an unknown album, but there are actually some great songs on it (including his first famous “Yosis”). Mordechai’s first concert took place in the early ‘70s, in Brooklyn College, and believe it or not, he was the opening act for Ohr Chodosh. They broke up soon afterward, but MBD is still going strong. And can you guess what his paycheck for that night’s performance was? I hope you’re sitting: $50.