Florence Goldstein and Morris Friedman immigrated to New York City in the 1920’s from Austria-Hungary and by 1935, they had met and married. Florence vowed to “have music in the house.” An Emerson upright was purchased and older brother Mort was first to play. Bob began in 1950 at seven.
DJs: In 1957, Two neighborhood girls asked Bob and his best friend, Mike Marcus, to take them to dance on the Alan Freed TV show, the “Big Beat. In 1958 Bob’s friend Peter Stein introduced him to ‘Jocko’s Rocket Ship Show’ (Douglas “Jocko” Henderson) on WOV AM, also on a Newark, New Jersey TV channel. Of New York City’s five TV bandstands, Jocko’s was the only one featuring Black vocalists and young Black teens dancing, exclusively. At overnight camp in 1958, Bob’s counselors borrowed 78 RPM records from the Black kitchen staff. Two of those records, “My Hearts Desire,” by the Wheels and “The Closer You Are,” by the Channels, “blew my mind,” Bob said. I wanted to sing.
The Shrines: “I found Times Records Shop “under” Broadway in 1959. “It was probably 9 feet by 15 feet, in the IRT subway steps at 42nd Street, and the walls were covered with priced records. Owned by Slim Rose. During those days you could find great stuff in Slim’s “dime pile.” Bob discovered Joe Davis’s Record Company on Manhattan’s West Side. Explained Bob, “He’d been in the biz since the 40’s.” His labels included Davis, Jay Dee, Joe Davis, and Beacon, samples of which are contained in Bob’s collection. Davis sold him many of his 45 recordings for 75 cents each. Hey, that’s five 1960 subway fare tokens! “One record store NYC collectors loved,” Bob noted, “was Randy’s Record Shop owned by Randy Wood in Gallatin, TN,” Randy’s supplied records to world famous WLAC (1510 AM) out of Nashville whose DJs spun so-called “race music”- reaching Alabama, the Mississippi Delta and the Carolinas, as well as, Los Angeles, Chicago and Detroit. ” I moved South in 1987 and visited the ‘shrine’ in ’88.”
College Days: In 1960, Bob entered CCNY and also formed the DuVals, an acapella group. “My dad owned Deluxe Vest Company and produced vests for the group. One member brought Lewis Lymon to practice. Lewis was lead of Lewis Lymon and the Teen Chords (“I’m So Happy”); his brother was Frankie Lymon. We recorded on tape “I’ll Be Home” (the Flamingos) and “Sweet Was the Wine” (the Impressions) with Lewis leading. A year later, Bob joined the Chambrays recording a demo of ‘Strangers in Paradise,” but were turned down by both Ted Mack’s Amateur Hour and Atlantic Records! Ouch!
Reunited: In 1963, The Duvals sang at Amateur Night at Greenwich Village’s famous Café Wha. We became the Squires and recorded, So Many Tears Ago and Don’t Accuse Me for GEE Records.
When the record came out, they found the lead’s voice cracked on “Tears” and the other side “wasn’t even us! To add insult to injury, the “wrong” Don’t Accuse Me – became very popular in England.” The original “Don’t Accuse Me” was found 35 years later in a Roulette Records ware house and used for the GEE box set. “It took 35 years for me to hear it.” That same year, the Squires went to the Apollo Theater to compete as The Four Delights on Amateur Night singing the Dominoes version of “Stardust.” They won and returned the following week losong the title to an adorable 14 year old pianist. Such is 15 minutes of fame!
Exhausting!: In 1964, owners of New York’s “Twin Hits” label asked the group to record cover records. They covered the Beatles’ From Me to You, Twist and Shout, and She Loves You; the Four Seasons’ Dawn Go Away; the Tams’ What Kind of Fool; and Bobby Goldsboro’s See The Funny Little Clown, mainly for export. Bob shared, “The lead earned $10 a side while the others got $5 a side. Then, they charged us 20 cents a piece to buy each record. The next year, Friedman met the Sparrows Quartet, Dominic Delia; his younger brother, Billy Delia; Sam Wood and Sal Mondrone. Bob sang bass with them for nine years, recording three albums, and “a dozen or so” 45’s and 78’s, and sang at Rock and Roll shows mainly in New York and New Jersey. “A great quartet!”
Westward ho!: In 1974, Bob left New York to work in Chicago as a community organizer. He also found time to search for records. He was only there a few months, when he moved to Gary, Indiana. While working at a community organization, he was asked to join “Yesterday’s Rhythm,” an Indiana acapella quartet, in 1978. Members included Lester “Doc” Williams (bs) from Gary, formerly with The Spaniels; George Carle (1st T, ld) from Merrillville; Mike Whitmore (ld, bar) from Hammond; and Joe Gryzbowski (ld 2nd T) from East Chicago. For the first time Bob would not be singing bass but, instead, sang lead and tenor. The group recorded two albums and performed live throughout the Chicago-NW Indiana area. In 1978, Bob moved back to Chicago. In 1980, Reverand Jesse Jackson called for a community boycott of a major Chicago music festival. Fellow “Rhythm” member, Lester “Doc” Williams supported Jackson as did Bob and although other members did not want to get involved in politics, ultimately, Williams convinced the others that he could not cross the picket line. Group members thought his decision was “racial” and not “political” and they acquiesced. The group stayed home. Bob recalled, “I was relieved.”
You Want Harold..You Got Harold!: In 1983, Bob volunteered for the Harold Washington Chicago mayoral campaign. Not only did Bob land an interview with Washington for a local activist newspaper; he also delivered his own precinct for him. Upon his historic victory as the City’s first black mayor, Yesterday’s Rhythm was invited to perform at the inauguration. “Working on his campaign and singing at his inauguration,” Bob noted, “was one of the thrills of my life.”
Goin South: In 1987, Bob traveled to Birmingham to help organize the southern tier of the Lenora B. Fulani for President campaign working in 10 states for the campaign. One big “southern surprise,” he recalled, was meeting fourth and fifth generation “Birmingham Jewish folks”- who “sounded as Southern as everyone else.” Bob had been used to Jewish folks sounding like they were from New York or Europe.” After the ’88 campaign, Gary Richardson, owner of Birmingham’s WJLD 1400 AM, hired him to sell air time and agreed to let Bob have a radio show, the “Doowop Shop.” He found his beloved vocal group music was more the music of the Northeast than the South, so he replaced some 50’s groups with 50’s Blues and R&B soloists such as Jimmy Read and Slim Harpo. Bob produced 38 shows. Next needed was a talk segment. For 22 years (1989-2011) on Saturday Morning Live (SML), Friedman hosted and interviewed local and national guests, had discussion with listeners on the issues of the day and co-hosted campaign debates. SML interviews became the foundation of the Birmingham Black Radio Museum (BBRM) oral history collection. Bob incorporated the BBRM as a non-profit in 2004 and in 2005, Bob made contact with UAB History Professor Pam Sterne King who helped begin organization of the BBRM archive. Bob also became politically active in the city leading referendum drives, running for office and being appointed to the Housing Authority Board of Commissioners.
Ah…harmony at last: In 2007, with Rev. Don Solomon (1st T), N. B. Wooding, Jr. (bar), Henry Burton (ld, T), Hobdy Moorer (ld, T), and Friedman (bs), the Pillars of Birmingham were formed, produced two albums and performed at numerous churches, as well as at UAB’s Alys Stephens Center.
In 2011, Bob left WJLD to work full time on the BBRM and moved the collection to Birmingham’s Carver Theater with the support of their Executive Director Dr. Leah Tucker. In 2013, Bob began presenting the BBRM’s civil rights research to Alabama’s colleges, universities and libraries and has continued to do so as of this publication.
Supporters of the BBRM include the Jefferson County Commission, the State of Alabama, the City of Birmingham, Alabama Historical Radio Society, University of Alabama School of Library and Information Studies, Birmingham Record Collectors, Radio Preservation Task Force of the Library of Congress, Society of Alabama Archivists, Birmingham Civil Rights Institute, the Daniel Foundation, the Alabama Power Foundation, Regions Bank Foundation, the National Parks Foundation, the Holle Family Foundation, the Alabama Humanities Association and the Alabama Historical Association. Scheduled to open soon..
The Birmingham Record Collectors l Hall of Fame l Class of 2023
“The Preservation, Collection and Appreciation of Recorded Music”