Danny Ugarte and the Plazas by Charlie Horner With contributions from Pamela Horner Reprinted from Echoes of the Past, # 120 (2017) How many of us get to live our childhood dreams? How many of us even get close? Growing up, I idolized the singers in the pioneer R&B groups. Sure, I wanted to someday be on stage singing with a doo wop group. But I didn't have the voice, so I became a histo- rian of the music, hosting a radio show for 25 years, re- searching and writing about the singers and producing acappella shows. At least I could contribute to preserv- ing the music's legacy. But some among us were blessed with the ability to sing and the desire to work hard and hone their talents. If they grew up in the 1950's and were influenced by the Orioles, Larks and Cadillacs, and if Lady Luck smiled their way, maybe they had a chance. Not a chance to become rich from the music, because few did. But a chance to have the spotlight shine on them, if only briefly. A chance to say, "I sang in a vocal group, and we were good!" "There was so much talent in my neighbor- hood," recalled Danny Ugarte, who's been singing since he was eleven. "Some of the guys made it. But some of the best talent never even got a crack [at fame]. They didn't even do anything. I didn't do anything either but Danny Ugarte I got close. I got close a couple times. But I love it. And I love meeting people from back then who were involved singing idols. "I remember going to see the Chords [also with the music and grew up the same way I did - liking from the Bronx] and I had to be eleven or twelve," said the music and saying that someday I'm going to be sing- Danny. "I couldn't get into the place so I tried to hide as ing that stuff. And I ended up doing it. I'm very lucky. close as I could get to see them. Then one of the Chords I'll be 73 and I’m still doing it." saw me and called me in because he knew who I was. He took me in and I watched the show. Then he walked Early Years me home and up to the door. My father was ready to kill me until he saw who it was. Then he said, 'Thanks Danny Ugarte was born in 1944 in the South for bringing the kid home!' That's how much I was in- Bronx. The area would later be immortalized in the fluenced by the music and what was going on. But the 1981 movie, "Fort Apache: The Bronx" after it had slid thing with growing up in a musical family, was the peo- into a period of economic decline with a high crime rate, ple that I got to meet in the music industry due to my but in the late forties and 1950's it was not like that. father. Like the Ink Spots or the Chords. People like Danny came from a musical family. His father was a that." professional drummer and president of Local 802 chap- The Local 802 offices were located inside New ter of the American Federation of Musicians, the power- York City's Roseland Ballroom in Manhattan and the ful musicians union in New York City. Danny's brother Ugarte brothers would often visit their father where he Joe Ugarte, also a drummer, was showcased at Carnegie worked. "At the Roseland Ballroom, to get to the union Hall at the age of eight by drummer greats Max Roach, office, there was catwalk," said Danny. "Once you went Buddy Rich and Louie Bellson. in the door, you'd have to walk this catwalk to the end Danny grew up listening to the pioneer vocal and that's where the union was. Well, my brother and I groups on the radio. His favorite radio disc jockey was used to walk the catwalk. Every week we'd be listening Jocko Henderson. "These guys were fabulous," recalled to guys singing below. The catwalk had railings and was Danny of the early R&B vocal groups. "That's why I attached to a wall but one side was open. You could wanted to be like them. My father said, 'You know they look down and see a group rehearsing in the ballroom don't make any money.' I said, 'I know. I don't plan on below. We said, 'Hey who are those guys singing down- making money.'" stairs?' and my father said, 'Those are the Cadillacs.' Danny and his brother would sometimes sneak Here I was, this little kid, listening to the Cadillacs. off and take the subway down to the Apollo Theatre to They used to rehearse there. You had to have a pull to see their favorite stars. Having a father in the music get into there because the ballroom was closed. But I business also put Danny in the company of many of his used to watch and listen to them all the time and say, 12 The Cordials Danny Ugarte's first serious group was the Cordials. He was invited to join the group by one of the guys in the neighborhood, Nicky Lopez. "Nicky sang like a bird," Danny remembered. "If you heard the Paragons doing 'Florence', that's what he sounded like. His was just a beautiful voice. And Nicky sang with the Cordials. An- other guy that I remember was Frankie Giminez. I think the bass' name was Ben something. And the origi- nal lead singer of the Cordials was Jerome Jackson." Jerome Louis Jackson was born in Brooklyn but grew up in the Bronx. In 1966, long after leaving the Cordials he would gain fame as the solo singer, J.J. Jackson, with the song "But It's Alright". "The biggest show that I did with the Cordials," said Danny Ugarte, “Was a big show at Samuel Gompers High School. Samuel Gompers High School was a vo- cational school in the Bronx. It had car mechanics, elec- tricians and it also taught audio technicians. The kids in the school put this audio system in the auditorium and 'Those guys are so good.' I probably heard them re- it was the best system I ever sang in, in my life." hearsing their later songs before they recorded them." The Cordials would eventually record "Dawn Is "I was quite young when I started to sing," re- Almost Here" for the 7 Arts label (#707) in 1961. Danny membered Danny. "I was probably around eleven years Ugarte was not on the recording. "I believe Frankie old. I sang with the neighborhood guys. We watched Jimenez' uncle was the one that recorded 'Dawn Is Al- the older guys singing and then we just started singing. most Here'," said Danny. "They recorded that when I With the musical background I had, everything came was moving to Plainfield, NJ. I'd already left. They easy to me. Everything came easy to my brother, Joe. asked if I could come back to do the recording but I said, He always had his own group and I always had mine. 'No, I'm moving away and have no way to get back.'" We always had guys we used to sing with. And in my Sources list the personnel on the 7 Arts re- neighborhood, there were a lot of good, good, groups cording session as Frank Giminez, Jerome Louis Jack- around - The Five Delights, the Eternals. Ernie Sierra son, Nicky Lopez, Bernard Newman and Tito Gonzalez. [Eternals] had a brother, Richie, with a group. They The lead on "Dawn..." is most likely Tito Gonzalez since were probably the best group in the neighborhood. he wrote the song. The flip, "Keep An Eye" was written Never made a dime. The Eternals got lucky. They did by J. J. Jackson. two songs that made it. And then there was the [nearby] Morrisania area groups with Lillian Leech & the Mellows, Arthur Crier & the Halos." [not to mention the Chords, Crickets, etc.]. "When I was twelve, I used to go to the Polo Grounds," said Danny. "We used to go there and get baseball gloves and bats. They used to give them to us. And who did I see at the Polo Grounds all the time, Her- man Santiago. I remember when he made it big. I saw him with the sweaters with the big "T" for Teenagers. I said, "That's the guy from the Polo Grounds." Frankie Lymon & the Teenagers were a huge inspiration to youngsters all over the country, but espe- cially in New York. "Everyplace you went, you'd hear somebody singing," recalled Danny." "And I said, ‘I want to sing with a group where people would say, you see that guy? He sings with so and so. He sings in that group.’ I used to strive for that - to be the best." "Then some of the guys started to make it. The Five Delights, they just recorded. And then, look! The Eternals were in the studio recording "Rockin' In The Jungle" and "Babalu's Wedding Day". We wanted to be like everybody else." Soul singer, J J Jackson 13 The Plazas Early in 196o, when Danny Ugarte was 16, he and his family moved to Plainfield, New Jersey. Danny found himself going to Plainfield High School where he met his new singing group. "For fifth period lunch in high school, we were allowed to leave school and go across the street," recalled Danny.