{"id":1400,"date":"2024-08-24T16:14:00","date_gmt":"2024-08-24T16:14:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dev.nysmusic.com\/2024\/2024\/08\/24\/peace-love-and-bert-sommer-sharon-watts-resurrects-memory-of-forgotten-folk-musician\/"},"modified":"2024-08-24T16:14:00","modified_gmt":"2024-08-24T16:14:00","slug":"peace-love-and-bert-sommer-sharon-watts-resurrects-memory-of-forgotten-folk-musician","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dev.nysmusic.com\/2024\/2024\/08\/24\/peace-love-and-bert-sommer-sharon-watts-resurrects-memory-of-forgotten-folk-musician\/","title":{"rendered":"Peace, Love, and Bert Sommer: Sharon Watts Resurrects Memory of Forgotten Folk Musician"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

In 1969, Bert Sommer, an American folk singer and songwriter, was immersed in a moment when peace, love, and hippies flowed through Bethel, N.Y., at a three-day-event known as Woodstock<\/a>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Performing music had been Sommer\u2019s passion since a teenager. Riding the wave of Beatlemania, Sommer took a train from Hartsdale and went to Central Park<\/a> in Manhattan where he met semi-truant and aspiring musicians, Leslie West, Larry (Weinstein) West, Peter Sabatino, Roger Mansour, and Jerry Storch. Together, the boys formed the garage band, The Vagrants. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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From Left to Right: Michael Brown, David Warren Schierhorst, Bert Sommer, Michael McKean. Photo courtesy of the Estate of Michael Brown, courtesy of Yvonne Brown <\/strong><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Although Sommer was not a performing member of The Vagrants<\/a>, he penned a dozen songs and more for them, including \u201cAnd When It\u2019s Over\u201d, featured on the band\u2019s first LP. The Vagrants performed gigs in the Long Island club, The Action House<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Simultaneously, in Washington Square Park<\/a>, Sommer met two more musical semi-truants, Tom Finn and Tom Feher who formed the classically-influenced \u201cBaroque Pop\u201d band, The Left Banke. Sommer formed a writing partnership with the band\u2019s youngest member, Michael Brown, and wrote songs for The Left Banke.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Internal artistic disagreements amongst band members caused The Left Banke to reform under Michael Brown. Joining Brown in The Left Banke included Sommer, Michael McKean and David Warren Schierhorst. The band recorded several songs, including Feher\u2019s \u201cIvy, Ivy\u201d, and Sommer\u2019s \u201cAnd Suddenly\u201d. Although \u201cAnd Suddenly\u201d was rising up the music charts, the original members sued the new version of the band. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

After his stint with The Vagrants and The Left Banke, Sommer went to Los Angeles, CA to perform in HAIR<\/em>, first as a member of the Tribe before moving on to play the character of Neil \u201cWoof\u201d Donovan.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In January 1969, Sommer, on Capitol Records released his debut album, The Road to Travel<\/em>, produced by music executive and Brooklyn native, Arthur Kornfield. Kornfield <\/a>left Capitol Records to co-create the Woodstock Music and Arts Festival alongside Michael Lang. Kornfield then invited Sommer to perform at the opening of the festival on Friday, Aug. 15, 1969, where he sang the song, \u201cJennifer\u201d. Sommer wrote \u201cJennifer\u201d for his HAIR <\/em>co-star, Jennifer Warnes, and he received the first standing ovation at Woodstock. Sommer performed a 10-song set at the festival.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The Book cover of Sharon Watts\u2019 memoir of Bert Sommer: \u201cThe Rather Magnificent\u201d Bert Sommer Woodstock\u2019s Lost Treasure – Cover courtesy of Sharon Watts <\/strong><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

After Woodstock, Sommer recorded three additional albums, had his single, \u201cWe\u2019re All Playing in the Same Band\u201d reach No. 48 on the Hot 100 Chart in September 1970, and while at SUNY Brockport<\/a> in 1974, met Waterford resident and singer\/songwriter, Johnny Rabb (real name: Gary Roberts), through friend Rob Landis. Together, the trio performed at clubs and cafes in and around Brockport for several years. The trio also went to Los Angeles to work on a Capitol LP produced by Ron Dante, who had just produced 13 Barry Manilow<\/a> hits.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Eventually through Rabb\u2019s encouragement, Sommer moved to Albany in August 1983 where he continued his music career until his death from a nearly life-long pattern of juggling addictive tendencies on July 23, 1990 at the age of 41. Musicians who knew Sommer within the music circuit would have their own intricate memories to share and tell to a super fan who became inspired to write about the late singer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Entering Sharon Watts<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Growing up in a suburb of Harrisburg, PA, the then 16-year-old teenager Sharon Watts barely had the Woodstock festival on her radar. Watts, who later became an illustrator and writer, lived in New York City for 30 years before moving upstate to Beacon <\/a>where she currently resides.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In December 2017, Watts visited The Museum at Bethel Woods<\/a> for the first time to learn more about the festival and its performers. She was inside the hallway of performers and read their information and realized at the time that she didn\u2019t know half of them. After her museum trip, she returned home with a book that she took out from her local library with every performer, in order of appearance. With her iPad and her two cats, she sat on the sofa and began reading the book until she reached Sommer\u2019s name.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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A young photo of Bert Sommer taken by Tom Flynn in 1966. Photo courtesy of Tom Flynn of The Left Banke<\/strong><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWhen I got to Bert, I was simply blown away. Something in his delivery reached into my core, and I needed to know who he was, and why had I never known of his existence,\u201d Watts recalled. \u201cThere was not a lot of info on him on the internet, but I started going down rabbit holes and found people who knew him – starting with his Woodstock <\/a>bandmate, Ira Stone and his wife, Maxine, who were onstage during their set.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Watts was drawn to Sommer and felt that he really could have been a contender in the music world. Sommer was a mystery for her to solve, and she wanted to shine a light on a musician whom she called a \u201cforgotten treasure\u201d. Watts decided to do more research and tell his story through the assistance of his musical peers. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The origins of her research<\/strong> <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Watts first wrote a personal essay that she shared on her writing website in 2018. In 2019, she pitched an article idea to the United Kingdom\u2019s Shindig Magazine. The magazine\u2019s editor asked Watts for a piece that coincidently timed with Woodstock\u2019s 50th Anniversary<\/a>. Her article, \u201cHair\u201d, based on the play that Sommer starred in, also centered around the festival and living in the mid-1960s.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Through her continued research, she found Sommer\u2019s time living in Albany \u201cequally if not more fascinating.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

During the Covid lockdown, Watts continued to collect stories from Capital Region musicians who knew Sommer and had performed with him during the mid-\u201980s\u201390s. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Watts then made connections with several of Sommer\u2019s band members and friends, including Rick Bedrosian, who provided her a personal photograph he took of Sommer and Rabb in the early \u201880s to use for her book.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Kevin McKrell\u2019s wife, Carla, told Watts about Sommer, \u201cEven if you only met him for 10 minutes, you (will) never forget him.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The book summary of Sharron Watts\u2019 memoir of Bert Sommer: \u201cThe Rather Magnificent\u201d Bert Sommer Woodstock\u2019s Lost Treasure – Cover courtesy of Sharon Watts <\/strong><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The tales told by Johnny Rabb <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Rabb recalled the moment when Watts first reached out to him about his friend.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201c(Sommer), he\u2019s an angel, a bad angel, but an angel. I spent years with him, I lived with him in the same college house in Brockport and at several other places over there,\u201d Rabb said. \u201cI lived with him in Los Angeles and it was pretty wild.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Rabb met Sommer while attending college at SUNY Brockport near Rochester. They became friends and got into bands together. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Rabb, along with Rob Landis and Sommer went from jamming at the Brockport Crypt inside the basement of a church to New York City\u2019s Schaefer Music Festival<\/a>, the Capitol Record building in Hollywood, and The Troubadour on the Sunset Strip, Watts said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A few months before Sommer moved to Los Angeles, music producer Artie Ripp encouraged him to audition for the role of Flatbrush, a character of the factitious rock band, Kaptain Kool and the Kongs, based on the children\u2019s Saturday morning variety show, \u201cThe Krofft Supershow\u201d in 1976. Sommer was only on the show for one season, and did not reprise his role for its second season. He also released his final album while living in Los Angeles, \u201cBert Sommer\u201d. The album was ultimately unsuccessful and Sommer was dropped from Capitol Records.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Living the dream in Albany\u2026<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Rabb convinced Sommer to return to Albany where people would appreciate him. Once he left Los Angeles in July 1983, he hitched a ride from New York City to Albany with his friend and musician, Dave Durocher and his wife, Jeannie Durocher. Once Sommer was at Rabb\u2019s house, Sommer knew he had found his \u201cforever home\u201d in the Capital Region. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

While in Albany, he started performing at open mics until he met Kevin McKrell and his wife, Carla. They, along with Rabb and additional members Rick Bedrosian and Bill Pulchinski (formerly \u201cBroadway Blotto\u201d in the band Blotto) formed The Fabulous Newports. Sommer also performed with Kevin as \u201cIrish Bert\u201d. Once Sommer became friends with Rabb\u2019s friend Eddie Angel, they formed The Poor Boys alongside Rabb, Bedrosian, and Buck Malen.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sommer performed all around Albany, Schenectady, and Troy at clubs and venues like 288 (Lark Street), The Grinch, Dulan\u2019s, Billy\u2019s Pub, The Gemini Jazz Cafe, J.B. Scott<\/a>\u2019s, The Boat Slip, and later Quintessence, a retro diner in Albany where he sang and played the piano to restaurateurs.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cHe had an amazing life – 41 years. He had an amazing life and he wouldn\u2019t take credit for it because he screwed it up somehow when he didn\u2019t get the money, but I think it\u2019s survival,\u201d Rabb said. \u201cHe was a survivor, and he took the wrong path with the drug thing, you know. That just killed what he had.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sommer was buried next to his father at Kensico Cemetery in Valhalla, near Westchester. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Rabb called Watts a master as a writer and a fan of Sommer. He provided Watts plenty of stories of his friend over the phone and provided her some personal photos to use for her book. He said reminiscing about his friend was very cool.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sommer\u2019s connection to Sarge Blotto<\/strong> (Greg Haymes) <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

During his time in Albany, Sommer met many area musicians and one of those notable friends was musician, artist, and journalist, Greg Haymes<\/a>. Sara Ayers<\/a>, Haymes\u2019 widow, said that her husband might have met Sommer through Rabb. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Haymes hosted Sarge Blotto\u2019s Hot Seat, an interview segment featured on George Guarino\u2019s monthly local cable access show, Real George\u2019s Back Room. In May 1985, Haymes featured Sommer on his talk show for a one-on-one interview. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The interview segment opened up with Sommer\u2019s song, \u201cDon\u2019t Take Candy From Strangers\u201d that he co-wrote with Eddie Angel. In the half-hour segment, Sommer would be seen showing off the program for the 1969 Los Angeles production of “Hair” which featured his own head and hair on the front cover, and his debut album, \u201cThe Road to Travel\u201d. He even performed \u201cWe\u2019re All in the Same Band\u201d on the acoustic guitar for both Guarino and Haymes. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWhat a guy. I love this guy,\u201d Sommer said of Haymes. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sommer recalled the moment he first met Haymes when he arrived in Albany. Aside from knowing Rabb, Haymes was one of his first Albany friends that he met in the local music scene. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cSo I came to Albany and right away, I started working and the first guy I met in Albany was this man (of Haymes). This man is family.\u201d Sommer said. \u201cI came to town and he said, \u2018I know who you are!\u2019 and right away, he made me feel good.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sommer\u2019s interview with Haymes can be watched on the Nippertown YouTube channel.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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