Aug. 29, 1970: The National Trust

 

It’s true what they say – in Buffalo there’s only one degree of separation. And once you meet somebody, there’s a good chance you’ll unexpectedly run into them again. That happens right away in this article. But what I didn’t discover until much later was my  connection with the owner of the club, McVan’s. In those days, when I was living on Auburn Avenue, he was my backyard neighbor.   

August 29, 1970

The National Trust

Shooting For The Top 

The story of Sam Guarino and The National Trust begins with the telephone ringing, like one of those old Johnny Dollar radio shows.

“Hello. This is Dale Anderson.”

Johnny Dollar was the insurance investigator with the action-packed expense account. A lot of double-indemnity stuff. Back in radio days, that was as good as being a detective or a reporter.

“Hello, Dale Anderson, how you doin’? You know who this is?”

* * *

THAT HUSKY voice had a familiar ring. It was the same voice that called me last May about a group named Stone Soul. Why it’s …

“Paul Battaglia! How your boys doin’?”

“They’re doin’ good. Listen, I wantcha to do me a favor, OK? There’s this group at McVan’s called The National Trust. They just signed up with this guy from Philadelphia and they’re gonna tour. They could use some publicity. How about it, buddy?”

How could I resist?

* * *

THE NEXT day I saw a “NATIONAL TRUST featuring Brass” bumper sticker on the glove compartment of some girl’s convertible. Friday there was a McVan’s ad in The News: “Chicago Week-End with Underwood Exchange, eight piece band, plus National Trust (seven-piece band).”

Then there was a radio commercial.

By the time next Wednesday night comes, I’m convinced the band needs publicity. So I lure my reluctant lady Laura into the car and off we go.

* * *

THE CLUB is a West Side-Riverside place and since six members of The National Trust are West Siders, things are pretty cozy. People are dancing from the first number.

Each band with horns faces a temptation to do every Chicago song it can master. The National Trust seems to have resisted it.

In between “Make Me Smile” and “25 or 6 to 4” are things like “Funky Broadway” and Freddy Scott’s “Hey Girl” – a beautiful piece of Niagara Street soul.

* * *

BETWEEN SETS, Sam tells us that some of the Buffalo Bills were coming around earlier this summer. O. J. Simpson has a Sam Guarino autograph and Sam once beat Julian Nunamaker in a roast-beef-sandwich eating contest.

“I met Bill Enyart,” Sam says. “I was teaching him guitar. And he tells me, ‘Sam, the way you feel about football is the same way me and my teammates feel about music.’ And he started bringing the guys around.”

* * *

THE NATIONAL Trust sprang up nine months ago from the ruins of The Stone Soul Experiment, which broke up because it wasn’t getting any gigs.

“I’d bounced around more groups than the rest of these guys put together,” Sam says. “And I felt like I wasn’t progressing. I’d get just so far with a band and then I’d quit or get fired.

“This time I said I’ll just put it together. I won’t try to find outstanding musicians. All a guy has to do is just show me he’s gonna be progressing week to week. Everybody’s working together now for the good of the group.”

The new group started with a bunch of jobs in low-paying bars, but nothing much happened until spring, when Sam went to see Joe Tiro (actually, Terrose), the owner of McVan’s and father of one of Sam’s high school friends.

“I worked for him before and he knew I would do a job for him,” Sam says. “‘Your group is good,’ he told me, ‘and horns are good. You put horns on and I’ll pay for ‘em,’ he said.”

* * *

THEY GET tested every night they play at McVan’s and there’s another band playing there. Other groups try to put them down.

“We get a real battle when there’s another horn group,” Sam says. “Sometimes we’ll do six songs and they’ll come back and do the same six songs, trying to outdo us.

“The groups out by the lake are saying we’re breaking up. They’re doing that because the summer’s ending and they know they’ll have to find new jobs. Everybody’s fighting for gigs this year.”

* * *

BUT COME October, The National Trust is going to say goodbye to the competition. A Philadelphia booking agent named Nino Bari was here recently and signed them to a five-year contract. In October, they tour.

“Nino picked up our good points and our bad points,” Sam says. “Right now we’re working on showmanship and we’re working on musical tightness. You know, choreography and not so much time between songs.”

“Yeah,” says bassist Joe Biondo. “Now we play out of tune, but we smile a lot.”

* * *

“WE WEREN’T an exciting group,” Sam says. “We want to be an exciting group. That’s how we’re billed to The Castaways in Miami.

“We aren’t going to make a lot of money. We’re just going out to learn from our mistakes. We’re shooting for the top and we’re gonna do it.

“And if it means putting a quarter in our ear and playing a Top 40 song, then we’ll do it because that’s the first step.

“We’re getting tired of ‘Funky Broadway,’ but there’s this guy that always wants to hear it. And if he wants to hear it, we’ll do it because people like him are our bread and butter.” 

The box/sidebar: 

Everybody Can Pronounce It 

Pertinent and impertinent information about The National Trust:

Sam Guarino, 23, singer, leader and saxophonist, Grover Cleveland High School and Niagara County Community College, single.

Bob Scocchera, 26, trumpet and trombone, Grover Cleveland, UB and graduate of the former Erie County Technical Institute, married.

Len Makowski, 22, saxophone and flute, Cheektowaga High, Trenton, N.J., State College, single.

Mike (Mac) Macpherson, 24, organ, Grover Cleveland and UB, “I’m a confirmed bachelor.”

Carl Mirabella, 25, lead guitar, Grover Cleveland, ECTI, married, three children.

Joe Biondo, 19, bass guitar, Burgard High, single.

Frank Gallo, 18, drums, attended Grover Cleveland, single.

* * *

SAM, WHO has been in and out of groups for 10 years, knew Lenny from the first group he was in – The Rhythm Kings. He played with Carl in The Electras five years ago. And Frank and Joe stuck with him from The Stone Soul Experiment.

Bob used to have a commercial group, the Bob Scocchera Quartet. And Mac was never in a group before. In fact, he never played organ until he joined Sam.

“We used to call ourselves Thanatopsis,” Sam says, “but we got rid of that. Nobody could pronounce it.”