Feb. 10, 1973: The Small Society
This group played one of our favorite Buffalo News haunts, Jack’s Cellar, a cozy little bar and restaurant in the basement of the historic Dun Building, only a couple blocks away from the newsroom, which in February 1973 was in its final weeks in the old offices at Main and Seneca streets.
Feb. 10, 1973
Plenty of Talent, Flair in ‘Small Society’
THE SMALL SOCIETY is practicing this night in Jimmy Edwin’s store on Broadway near
Bailey. Well, actually it’s his father, Edwin Grzankowski’s, store – Jimmy and
his brother Greg are only vice presidents – but he lets them use it.
For a band, it’s the perfect set-up. The store is a music
store and from the bright quarter-note sign in front to the dozen or more
practice rooms at the rear, it’s chocked full of guitars, amps, tambourines,
heaven knows what-all, and it’s entirely at their disposal.
* * *
IT’S BEEN
particularly handy this past month or so, what with the group going through
extensive changes, adding two new members, throwing out dozens of old songs.
“We’ve revamped our repertoire completely,” keyboard man
and group mediator Bill Butler relates. “Eighty-five percent of it is brand
new. You see us with those lights on our music, that’s because with all the new
songs we haven’t had a chance to memorize them yet.”
“It’s convenient with the music store,” puts in Paul
Walker, the group’s bass guitarist, leader and on-stage spokesman.
“I don’t know if you saw the music in there,” he says, “but
that’s probably the biggest collection of sheet music in the city. At least of
popular songs. Whenever we want to learn something, we just go over and pick it
out.”
That the band reads music is a bonus from those years Paul
and Bill played live music lounges around the city, Bill on accordion until
popular pressure and the appearance of portable electric pianos in the mid ‘60s
made him switch.
The old days saw Paul and Bill and a drummer playing five
nights a week while Bill was racing through a three-year accelerated college
program. “I don’t know how I did it,” Bill says, “but at the same time I was
making more money than my father.”
* * *
THE GROUP
went from doing the Hi-Los to the Swingle Singers to Sergio Mendes to Chicago to
singing “Somewhere Over the Rainbow” in four-part a cappella harmony.
“Now, seeing that things have changed,” Paul says, “we
figure that with a guitarist and Claudette, we can get into a little
choreography, some matching clothes and a little show.”
Chuck Martin’s guitar and Claudette Terry’s singing already
are shooting new fire into the group, adding to their long-standing strengths –
Bill’s piano work and Paul’s smooth vocals.
That accounts for the touches of flash in their otherwise
straight commercial sound. A tastefully aggressive guitar solo or Claudette
throwing spirit into something like Carole King’s “Smackwater Jack” are likely
to spice up any given set in their current Friday and Saturday night run at
Jack’s Cellar at Pearl and Swan in downtown Buffalo. In March, they go back to
the Mark James on
* * *
CLAUDETTE’S vocal
background – church singing, high school choruses, voice lessons at
Paul, a former deejay (WBEN, WMMJ), had a more dramatic
entry into professional voice training.
“I was singing with the Chopin Singing Society in
Kleinhans,” he recalls, “and two days later I got a phone call from Julia Mahoney
of the Community School of Music.
“She wanted me to be her student. I learned a lot from her.
But when we got to those operatic arias, I decided to quit.”
“I’m getting the same thing,” Claudette nods knowingly. “Last
semester it was Italian opera. This term, it’s German and French.”
The group’s changes began a little more than a month ago
when their former female singer, Phyllis Russo, abruptly announced that she was
leaving to be married. The band listened to numerous prospects before Claudette
tried out.
* * *
“I WAS WALKING
away from the stage,” Paul says. “I’d had my fill of listening and when
Claudette started singing, I just spun right around. Here was someone who could
put feeling and expression in a song.”
They called her in for a quickie rehearsal the next
Saturday, then summoned her to the stage at the Black Angus in
“I figured I’d have a month to rehearse with them,”
Claudette says, “and then they told me – tonight. But it turned out fantastic.”
* * *
“THE CROWD
wanted her to do more,” Paul says, “but that was all we had worked out.”
One thing they’ll keep in their act is the bit where Paul
invites someone from the audience to sing, then sneaks off with a wireless FM
transmitter and does the vocals while the guest lip syncs.
“Once,” Paul says, “one of the owners of the Black Angus,
Dick Ebling, came out all dressed up saying: ‘Yeah, I’ll sing.’ And he pushed
me off the stage and goes: ‘OK, guys, give me a little bit of ‘Blue Moos.’
“People were coming up afterwards and complimenting him.
Nobody knew. It got so the waitresses started to get in on it, though, and it
got ridiculous.
“They’d say: ‘Can you do “Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow”
in D?’ Then they’d lay out charts for the whole band. ‘Where’d you get these?’
I’d ask. They’d say: ‘My arranger.’”
It’s 9:30 now and Chuck and Jimmy, who’ve been ensconced
for hours with youthful guitar and drum students, are finally done with their
lessons and ready to work.
“OK,” someone says, “what’ll we do tonight?”
That’s the signal. The search is officially on. All five of them head for what’s probably the biggest collection of pop sheet music in the city and start looking.
The box/sidebar:
A Growing Group
The Small Society is the biggest it’s ever been, thanks to
the addition of two new members about a month ago. The group lines up like
this:
Paul Walker, 29, bass guitar and vocals, Bishop Ryan High
School, attended UB, account executive for radio station WWOL, married, three
children.
Bill Butler, 25, organ, piano and vocals, Kensington High,
master’s degree from Buffalo State, biology teacher at Frontier Central’s
Amsdell Heights Junior High, married.
Claudette Terry, 20, vocals, East High, second-year music
major at
Chuck Martin, 23, guitar and vocals, Ryan High, attended
Canisius College, Marine Midland Bank employee, single.
Jimmy Edwin, 29, drums, Ryan High, Bryant & Stratton
graduate, vice president of Edwin’s Music Store, married, two daughters.
New are Claudette, who answered Paul’s newspaper ad for a
singer and landed her first professional job, and Chuck, a veteran of several
small commercial groups who teaches guitar at Edwin’s Music and sat in several times
with the band.
* * *
PAUL AND BILL
have played since Paul’s late father, a teacher at Chimes Music, brought them
together more than 10 years ago. With a drummer, they played cocktail jazz as
the Paul Walker Trio.
Jimmy joined about three years ago, replacing his younger
brother Greg, who sat in briefly. Jimmy also is half of Johnny & Jimmy, the
duo which plays for WKBW-TV’s weekday “Dialing for Dollars” show, and once
played for
* * *
THE GROUP
stopped being the Paul Walker Trio about five years ago. “I didn’t want to
maintain that attitude of one individual and two or three other people in the
background,” he says.
“So I thought: ‘How about The Small Society?’ because we
play nice, small commercial clubs and a few society dates. I threw the name at
Bill and he liked it.”
* * * * *
IN THE PHOTO:
Seated, Claudette Terry. Standing, from left, Bill Butler, Paul Walker, Chuck
Martin and Jimmy Edwin.
* * * * *
FOOTNOTE: Edwin’s Music was a mecca for aspiring
players before it closed and many of them took lessons there, including
guitarist Johnny Rzeznik of the Goo Goo Dolls. Since 2007, the storefront has
been the home of
Nobody in the Small Society shows up in my Google
searches except for Jimmy Edwin, who is mostly remembered these days for his “Dialing
for Dollars” gig. He took over the store after his father died in 2002 and was
a guest in 2016 on WBBZ-TV’s Polka Buzz program.
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