The father of festival sound was once a child striding on roller skates, delighted or disturbed by what he heard.
So began Bill Hanley’s lifelong fascination with sound, a journey explored in a new book, “The Last Seat in the House.”
Author John Kane
swept away by delight in live organ or
fascinated with
acoustics and electricity.
, the engineer who made music heard in the last seat in the house lives in Merrimac.
Bill Hanley and his wife, Rhoda, live in a former farmhouse surrounded by remnants of an earlier life bringing music, live music to audiences at venues including Woodstock and Newport Folk and Jazz festivals, including the oft described as a ground making moment in American music when Bob Dylan played electric as opposed to acoustic music.
He … and The Beatles
In the living room on this December day are Hanley, his wife and John Kane, the author of a new book, “The Last Seat in the House.”
At 500-plus pages and 10 years of research and interviews it is a deep dive into Hanley and his fascination with sound from his earliest days to the highlights of his career.
Hanley is still thinking about new
His wife, Rhoda
he provided sound for the largest anti-war demonstrations in us history.
by mid to late 70s hanley innovation mimicked by small companies and he fell wayside.
takes makes a curtain call takes a bow and gets a behind the scenes appra
Sound words
baffling
gain
mix
sound reinforcement
“These are questions that kane’s book poses, he says in the preface. “What was the state of live sound before Hanley began his career? How did sound reinforcement come to serve the needs of a developing music business? Who are some of the earliest roadies, crew, people, and sound pioneers that shaped the billion dollar music industry as we know it? How are sound systems deployed, and what equipment was used at various venues concert and festivals including Hanley’s very important sound application at Woodstock?”
Kane had an early infatuation with radio, the magic of listening to far off stations at night. Also an early and abiding fascination with music and Woodstock” the woodstock sound engineer.
Kane for his Salem festival asked her why would he be interested in running the sound for a small folk fest?
She said he was older his business had slowed down and he was approachable and local.
Later, in 2009, he met Hanley when the Woodstock producer Michael Lang was signing his book The Road to Woodstock at a bookshop in Brookline.”
they crossed paths a few times and finally after kane was in 2011 in need of research topic at franklin pierce univ.
book result of 8 years work 100 interviews
at richie havens memorial in bethel kane needed a microphone adaptor , kane made one from parts he had in his suitcase.
within minutes of the time Kane would n eed it for interviews was experiencing static and bill fixed in nick of time, “like he always had.”
an unlikely hero, atroubleshooter
hanley constructed systems of sound,
he privided sound reinforcement for three quarters of the pop and rock festivals in the golden age of festivals. deemed “The father of festival sound”
he provided sound for the largest anti-war demonstrations in us history.
by mid to late 70s hanley innovation mimicked by small companies and he fell wayside.
his golden age 57-69
philo do noy confuse loudness with quality
would walk and liste atwoodstochk to sound balance, clarity and audibility.
sister patricia impressed with first crystal radio set bill made from quaker oatmeal box when was 6nor 7.
at 11 lerned amateur radio and morse code at chrlestown boys and girls club
at christmas bill and terry set up a high fideity speaker box with early amplifier they built in attic window so neighborhood could hear holiday music.
they then put sound in neighborhood square at churches and at dances.
he played music from an elevated site above skating rink played from set up in his father’s 37 buick roadmaster. delightful to hear music at malden fellsmere pond reservoir. not seen but heard
as a teen concerned about poor sound at vfw, knighs of columbus, armories and churches.
mid teens avid reader popular science popular mechanics
pa systems were built for boxing matches, meetings, for spoken words not music. so burgeoning concerts in 50s had poor soud pa systems.
as teen he worked record hops, sock hops with radio personality dave maynard
learned at casino ballroom doing sound for tommy dorsey that needed multiple microphones. they were only using one microphone for the full band needed multiple mics for quality mix. the one mic on stage being used by vocalist.
hanley developed love for rollerskating and wonderful sound of live organ music organist aucoin former silent film organisy played there. benny aucoin on his hammond at the n Bal-A-Roue
pa horns attached to polr or trailer
sound was his ticket to the world it brought him places and encouraged conversations that would bring him knowledge and places. in his youth he cleaned gym lockers at tufts the gym was near engineering dept and he would chat and ask questions of the engineering students.
later he got introduced to the infrstructure people at the garden and had access to the sound room became friendly with the orgnist john kiley also the lojngtime legendary organist at fenway. the head electrician atthe garden wasfriends with bill’s votech teacher, thomas rawson,who intrduced hanley to the garden engineer barney noonan
he took train bill did into boston and north station
by late 60s kiley called on hanley’s company to rproduce sound syste for kiley’s x66 hammond
the engineer who ran the wiring, harold cohen, said it was one of the first centrally located bi-amplified stadium sound systems in the country — organ at fenway.
after hs grad in 1955 went to work for demambro company that had a sound installation department and sold hi fidelity parts for radios and tv.
through his father’s friendship with tip o’neil bill landed an apprenticeship with the laboratory for electronics in waltham which was affiliated with mit he worked there 5 yers built foundation started soldering then moved to harnessing wires then to pirinted circuit board department then with engineers. in ’57 went to work pert-timr for Ad Cole Company hiredas an aide on engineering projects including rocketry
ad cole was contracted by mit instrumetation lab to develop aeronautical instrumentation on rocketry department; hanley hired to work on rocketry projects such as gyro table.
key ref book was “Sound” ’57 by Dr. Leo Beranek. the book talked about microphones, loudspeakers, amplifiers and rooms. in ’54 hanley established hanley sound co in medford basement of 56 faragut street home of his parents.
hanley wa called “wild bill” at the time according friend ed robinson in 57 acted strange at times.
biz expanded early description dynamiting blue granite boulder to pour basement
got into stadium sound
used voice of the theater speakers by altec lansing they needed larger speakers for larger venues rock, folk and jazz . rested on casters easilymoved used in movie theaters as they clsed due to tv bill bought them and placed them on scaffolding at concerts
Copy of the book, jacket cover photos, time to sit with them at an appropriate place.
Bio information
Lives in Epping
The Bethel Woods museum
I worked on the book for 10 years
Had plans for a tour
It was squashed due to covid
Did the best he could with online promotion
Just had a presentation in medford library 75 people
Derived from doctoral dissertation 2011
While I was interviewing I was understanding the scope of this I had to get a camera filmed much of what he did
I showed that at the Medford library
I am going to show it for free so just people can learn from it it is educating
I am still educating what people did the sound
Why haven’t more people heard of Bill Hanley
If you know people they say I like music
They like to listen to swing, jazz psychedelic
But previous to this the concert sound was awful
60 years ago people realized sound sucks
Journalist wrote about this talked about how it brought down the quality of the performance
As the business grew and live concert and venues and the technology
Boutique audiophile wave out of Boston Bill was part of it
Introduced the idea of multiple microphones.
The prevailing idea
As he went along Bill recognized the need to offer staging and other production elements the umbrella of staging.
In 1973 Leer jets, sound lighting and arena rock
He has the
He is alwasy thinking about new sound ideas
Right now
Well. I’m thinking about specialty microphone systems for with Big Bands swing orchestras
Parnelli Awards the most esteemed award in sound engineering
Bala roo roller skater rink on the right side on 93 as you go into the Boston
They were building pt boats before the war and turned it into skating rink
I first started skating there had an organist very interesting acoustics
They would play music it was hideous when he played the organ he was fabulous
“That stirred my interest in it. I was trying to help make a better society with high quality audio with good intelligent building that I witnessed at the gardens
Bill Hanley’s father’s friend was the head electrician at the Boston gardens.
\
Was spending time there looking at the sound system.
Using electric hoist instead of scaffolding.
He did the systems for John Kiley at Fenway Park
Rhoda says she is is number one fan
Met bill in 1970 at the Philadelphia folk festival
He kept follwoing me and taking me everywhere
His mother said the reason I got him is I wasnt chasing him
She moved up here for grad school
She is a visual person and she is an audio person
She is my right hand
His Owoodstock jacket stil;l fits him
He loved the musicians. He cared for them. Not all of them but a lot fo them he appreciated them he loved his job.
Bill’s aunt played
We both share politically and socially in tune current events mean a great deal to us.
He di the sound for the anti war marches in New York, the Monument, the Zcapitol Steps in DC
He did the womnebns march in new york
Woodtock, he built those speakers specifically for that field
“Bili is first and foremot an inventor, he trailblazed he never got into doing recording he like being out of the studio he liked dersigning anfd inventing and he liked doing it for big systems. That is what got him into Woodstock he designed that system for that event. He knew about acoustics and electricity put them together and you’ve got audio
He could design and build he wo his mind works to create
Things that are state of the art bill did first not as sophi
The linear rays at Madison square garden, put the speakers together,
Brought the console to the audience
He walked the whole field at Woodstock when the sound system was engaged He said he wanted to hear what they were hearing
She didn’t know him then he never told her he did that
He gets the pleasure from doing
Multimicing
Using contrutction grade materials to life them in the air and position them
Getting htem up high
At Fillmore east using live simulcast
The first persomn to use stage monitors
Several groups for whom vocals were especially improtant The Beach Boys, Buffalo Springfied, The Cowsills, The Chamber Brothers maong them cite Bill interviews for his introudction of sound monitors, so the guys ons tage can hear themselves, helped them transform their sound.
Music is getting louder
He put the stage up higher hsi idea to raise the stage so the audience had to move back for security
He recommended that a security wall be set up 12 feet and the stage up 8 feet so if you are sitting right up front you woudlnt be able to see anything so it forced people back an dopened up an egress lane
He did that Woiodstock and other festival
Another security idea to prevent possible deadly mishaps is reversing the mechanism on wicnhes so they pull up these big speakers up into the ceiling instead of lifting them up and out over the audience where if one fell it could have deadly conseqiences
Bill kept people from getting hurt never hurt and the sound never failed
“Bill’s sound systen actually saved lives,” John said. “Hid use of a functioning public address system that did not fail at Woodstock saved thousands of lives,
Ressuring annouc nements about food and medical help and to step back
Rhoda they coulod all hear the musci it tied them together.
Psychologically reassuring voices like they were spoken in smeone’s living room it is cool we are all in this together. Everything is going to be okay there is food or water for 450,000 people
Motivated to provide understanding, earl on, for people to understandin clearly what was being said and the muddled sounds at the Boston garden, and then the high quality sound of live organist at the roller sjkaiting rink
Hje was in the corner of communication
“I was deidicated to peoploe being abkle to be heard and to understand what they are saying. understanding”
The rinks used hammond sound for organs tht rinks took up. Saw the quality. Then I listened to record and they sounded awful and I knew it didnt need to sound so poor.
I tied that together. I can dobetter for society by enhancing communication and introdcuing good equipment
I was trying to get what was happening onthe stage out to them. Without the trash and reverbation
Introduced the idea of multiple microphones.
The prevailing idea
As he went along Bill recognized the need to offer staging and other production elements the umbrella of staging.
In 1973 Leer jets, sound lighting and arena rock
He has the
He is alwasy thinking about new sound ideas
Right now
Well. I’m thinking about specialty microphone systems for with Big Bands swing orchestras
Parnelli Awards the most esteemed award in sound engineering
Bala roo roller skater rink on the right side on 93 as you go into the Boston
They were building pt boats before the war and turned it into skating rink
I first started skating there had an organist very interesting acoustics
They would play music it was hideous when he played the organ he was fabulous
“That stirred my interest in it. I was trying to help make a better society with high quality audio with good intelligent building that I witnessed at the gardens
Bill Hanley’s father’s friend was the head electrician at the Boston gardens.
\
Was spending time there looking at the sound system.
Using electric hoist instead of scaffolding.
He did the systems for John Kiley at Fenway Park
Rhoda says she is is number one fan
Met bill in 1970 at the Philadelphia folk festival
He kept follwoing me and taking me everywhere
His mother said the reason I got him is I wasnt chasing him
She moved up here for grad school
She is a visual person and she is an audio person
She is my right hand
His Owoodstock jacket stil;l fits him
He loved the musicians. He cared for them. Not all of them but a lot fo them he appreciated them he loved his job.
Bill’s aunt played
We both share politically and socially in tune current events mean a great deal to us.
He di the sound for the anti war marches in New York, the Monument, the Zcapitol Steps in DC
He did the womnebns march in new york
Woodtock, he built those speakers specifically for that field
“Bili is first and foremot an inventor, he trailblazed he never got into doing recording he like being out of the studio he liked dersigning anfd inventing and he liked doing it for big systems. That is what got him into Woodstock he designed that system for that event. He knew about acoustics and electricity put them together and you’ve got audio
He could design and build he wo his mind works to create
Things that are state of the art bill did first not as sophi
The linear rays at Madison square garden, put the speakers together,
Brought the console to the audience
He walked the whole field at Woodstock when the sound system was engaged He said he wanted to hear what they were hearing
She didn’t know him then he never told her he did that
He gets the pleasure from doing
Multimicing
Using contrutction grade materials to life them in the air and position them
Getting htem up high
At Fillmore east using live simulcast
The first persomn to use stage monitors
Several groups for whom vocals were especially improtant The Beach Boys, Buffalo Springfied, The Cowsills, The Chamber Brothers maong them cite Bill interviews for his introudction of sound monitors, so the guys ons tage can hear themselves, helped them transform their sound.
Music is getting louder
He put the stage up higher hsi idea to raise the stage so the audience had to move back for security
He recommended that a security wall be set up 12 feet and the stage up 8 feet so if you are sitting right up front you woudlnt be able to see anything so it forced people back an dopened up an egress lane
He did that Woiodstock and other festival
Another security idea to prevent possible deadly mishaps is reversing the mechanism on wicnhes so they pull up these big speakers up into the ceiling instead of lifting them up and out over the audience where if one fell it could have deadly conseqiences
Bill kept people from getting hurt never hurt and the sound never failed
“Bill’s sound systen actually saved lives,” John said. “Hid use of a functioning public address system that did not fail at Woodstock saved thousands of lives,
Ressuring annouc nements about food and medical help and to step back
Rhoda they coulod all hear the musci it tied them together.
Psychologically reassuring voices like they were spoken in smeone’s living room it is cool we are all in this together. Everything is going to be okay there is food or water for 450,000 people
Motivated to provide understanding, earl on, for people to understandin clearly what was being said and the muddled sounds at the Boston garden, and then the high quality sound of live organist at the roller sjkaiting rink
Hje was in the corner of communication
“I was deidicated to peoploe being abkle to be heard and to understand what they are saying. understanding”
The rinks used hammond sound for organs tht rinks took up. Saw the quality. Then I listened to record and they sounded awful and I knew it didnt need to sound so poor.
I tied that together. I can dobetter for society by enhancing communication and introdcuing good equipment
I was trying to get what was happening onthe stage out to them. Without the trash and reverbation
Now no fullness sound
I saw McCartney at Fenway still delays
Bill for a time there
He would get listed on the sound
It got so good and got lost
I equate this to the race for electricity
He would be listed not on marquee
He was always older then not par tof the counterculture
If he was an Owlsey Stanley he was still left behind drug use
I am sure people know who the Clair brothers are
Had his company been successful he would be well known
Woodstock is bills culmination in sound
He was in the business decades before the reason he was there he was the only guy who could handle it.
In 1969 there were well over 75 rock concerts
Woodstock puts a kibosh not he festivals but when the film arrives it shows to public and politicians they did not want large scale events this haunted Michael lang up to Woodstock 50
He is known as the father fo festival sound
What killed bill e was not able to adapt to the new business model
This was the birth of arena rock. Meadowlands, and he wasn’t able to adjust to
But it is a FASCINAting ride
Grew up in Somerville, blue collar lived there through mid-1930s
Always into he music grew up in 80s a rocker metal head kid
Didn’t get into eh Woodstock until we started renting vas at store
By being able to rent that movie in 1989
Wow this happened
But boy 20 years ago 450,000 people congregated in this field played drums and base
And went to art Institue of Boston an aspiring art supported self as a telemarked
Got a masters in arts and education wanted to be a teacher but not after substituting
Started teaching graphic design
In 2009 during the great recession I was laid off realized it was a good time to go back to school saw program at Franklin Pierre leadership and innovative leadership and distryptover technology
Looked a these leaders and what they have done I saw a book talk by Michael lang was met bill hanley
Why would technology wz want to do sound for my pinky dink festival in salem
Went back to the handy family I said I have three years to scan and interview
Running the folk festival and I had connections to Bethel then I asked bill to do the concert.
That was around the time of the 40th then land came to brookline bookstore for a talk and saw
Living in salem mass,
The north shore folk festival three years
Love running festivals.
There is a language that musicians have with each other the folk festival ended and around 2009 10 went into the doctoral program and lang road his book road to Woodstock
Even then I didn’t realize the impact bill had. I never realized.
Have hundreds of ticket
1984 orpheum motley crew and rat
Snuck out of the house
Had listened deep purple and traffic
Graduated from somerville high school
Working on third book
Single family home poor almost quit school
Bravado rocker kid, went to full circle a charter school, 1989, I got such a great learning experience I got a great learning experience form the teacher snd put a college application.
Came into writing through the back door.
The high school experience was transformative realize ei could do more than hang out and smoke joints
After I graduated 2014 with the dr. degree
In between I raised 20,000
437 salem st. original building of Hanley sound it is a dunking donuts now]I worked with the mayor crowdfunded 20,000, because of Hanley family got the
Melanie came and brother Terry did sound and scity
Th plaque is there put it in the ground they can’t touch it the maj=yor told him.
After degree, I wrote 800 page dissertation, Alan dibiais coeditor a faculty member he was my guy got me into the program
He said hey what are you doing with your dissertation so we meet
We met at the common man
What does it need
I said it needs a begging middle and end
He said rewrite it in a year come back to me
A year later the chapters emerge the story emerges I can make better connections. So Alan an di were doing everything through FaceTime and I had a baby slapping my face we went through line by lien chapter line for clarity sentence structure after three of doing it I am a writer
Wow I can’t believe it
“I am a writer.”
By 2018 I start farming it out and found a publisher. One thing led to another I wrote up a proposal even Hal leanoneard and met academic press rejections
I said to sit the Hanley’s have been doing graduation since 1969
Univ miss said we love it is going into american made music series.
They take it it wen tout for peer r3view
Nerve wracking because it got
Three reviewers came back Don’t touch it this a book
Why helft it need wot be hefty
2020 release then the damn pandemic hit and the book I have been working on for 10 years can’t be f shown to world
Around 2018 I acquired a collection of rare photos that ti own the rights to richer shellac and I was bale to put together pilgrims of Woodstock an oral history
I did about 50 dates around new england covered by Ann I got to write an op ed for the Washington Post
Thought it was a Nigerian email scam
I owne Alan my high school experience and I owe big a lot
They ave given me a whole new profession in writing. I am not able to make money but I can do it
I can send out a proposal wit confidence
I always want dot ne a rock roll writer Cameron Crowe
I have interviewed incredible stars an dmusicians because of my knowledge and connections
Been teaching 15 years, teaching visual arts, that expanded to business marketing media communications
I’ve taught new england college]the nh instituew of art I am teaching at st alnselm and great bay community college and Lesley I have taught at Lesley
Now teaching social media writing
I am anxious to mov wont other gen x generation.
We throw technology away now
Before stereo
Hearing is believing.
Communication and entertainment.
In childhood to hear waht people have to say in church and to enjoy the clear sounds
Innovations that opened the door to festival sound
safety
Bill Hanley raises and unfolds his arms in stages like a bird to demonstrate his magic stage innovation.
The mobile stage allowed hm to move it from outdoor concert location or to
Rhoda in 1970 Philadelphia Folk Festivql
Twice to american bandstand a Philly
She went there
In the audience
Went to school there dad was an immigrant from Ukraine mom;s people fromt he Ukraine
Grew grandfather artist
Mother family very musical
From 7 wanted to be an artost
Grew up with a opera
,mother played piano union songs and spirituals
That is how I got connected with folk
Academy of fine arts and tempmple iuniv
Moved to Bosotn went to school of th emusem at tufts
She teachesat the museum
Printmaking
In 1995 found this from this location moved from malden
We really share and love music and like to dance
All the work bill did he l;oved some of th emusicians cared for them he liked his job
Bill’s aunt played in woman’s band’we both
like music
In common very politicaly and socially in tuned a current events to us
He did sound for capital steps anti women
Women’s march
anti-war
He kept following me and taking me everywqhere
Thid was lumber barn
Bill is an inventor first and foremost he trailblazed he enever go in gto recording didnt like beingiin studio liked desingign and inventing doing sound for big
He designed that systme for that event
He knew about acoustics and electricity
He could build an amplifier
His mind works to create things that are state of the art bill did first
When put speakers together he did that at the Madiscon square
Linear
A picture
Broght the console to the fornt of the stage
I walked the whole field while the concert
Bill didnt tell me he didnt
Proud of doing Woodstock not
He lieis what he does well
Soembeody aske dhim did you know the soudn was working of course
A good book for sudiophiles but also a good book for hsitorians, she said
What do you think, John, of innovations
1.Multi-microphone
2.Audiophile technology amplifiers
3.Cinema technolgy
4.Using contruction grade scaffolding to lift and position then
5.Use of projectors live simulcasts to broadcast
6.Use of stage monitors, the cowsilsm the chamber bors and beach boys vocals music get louder and cant hear themselves, all names bill as a major of monitors, being able to hear yourself
7.Raising the stage so the audience had to move back
Security
8. Reversing the mechanism on a winch to they pull up into the ceiling cm wench writ4es bill a letter saying we are not liable for deqths or injuries severla years later they are selling Bill’s
9. Folding stage magic stage using hydraulics
The sound never failed and no one was ever hurt at a concert
He was rejected
His sound system its success
Move back,
The music
Social anxiety context John it is like you are sitting
John if you were to put bill’s career on a map he was at the right place at the right time his career rode the wave of the mergingn music but alos the coicetal impac t of th eevents, th epolitics,
The antiwar festivals were just as large as Woodstock were just as large
Rhoda had a guy mfrom south africa who came to work with bil Dave mark because apartheid was raging sent him home with Woodstock sound system speakers amplifiers monitors
David could not put on blacl musicians and charge for it andnot put black qnd white together he fogured how to doit mithout charging
Sound bny Hanley sound David marks credited sound
They
On private proerty
Somebody said to me what are you so proud
That is it took a huge
Since 95
Block and tackle
Roof trusses for lighting and tarps on top of container used at Boston city hall used in new hampshire used at water country
A yellow tractor trailer cap early 70s orange used on several tours transported magic stage and large containers with sound equipment
John very few had capasame weekend Woodstoick andf los Angel;Es, blind
We were doing five or six in a night
John so much fun dick butler, characters, one arm
South shore
Had blind sound engineer
ray Fournier
One of bill’s speakers in the museum in Bethel, still announcing come out of it
What got him fascinaied with sound
Orgna sounded great
Wantitng to
I was dedicated to be people able to being heard and undestoof what was being saying
Then the saw th epoor quality it was awful
I coudl do good for society communication and
Make it sound good for all those people.
Communication
It more a dascination
Could hardly understanding a word being said in the church, latin
From
t
And kenworth tractor trailers used on tours.
Giant stadium grateful dead
Heqvu futy 2oo pund per square foot
A city boy’s dream arrives once a week, materializing inside the glass doors of the plain brown building in Methuen — world-class jazz.
The city boy is thick-fingered retired postal worker Bob “Jocko” Arcidiacono, a Lawrence High graduate (Class of ’66), Vietnam War veteran, husband and jazz ambassador.
His dream is Jocko’s Jazz, a Tuesday night staple he has hosted for more than a decade at the Sahara Club and Restaurant.
Jocko’s fans, like Haverhill lawyer and Latin Grammy nominee John Finbury, call the weekly shows the Merrimack Valley’s best-kept secret, held in an unlikely venue nestled among suburban homes.
Entering Jocko’s Jazz is like stepping back to a more elegant time in a New York City night club or New Orleans jazz venue.
The stage sparkles. The crowd listens and applauds. Jocko pops his fingers, slaps his hands against a pant leg.
On one Tuesday in May, Jocko stood before the neatly lit stage and announced upcoming performers, among them famed jazz singer, entertainer and ticklishly funny lyricist Giacomo Gates.
Gates sings this Tuesday, June 27, at the Bates Street club. He’ll deliver his evocative songs to an attentive and elegantly attired crowd, many of them regulars.
“Giacomo is something special,” Jocko said, his voice burdened by enthusiasm — that of having to wait for the performance.
Jocko has been jazz smitten since he was 12, first spellbound by its moods and melodies while hearing a neighborhood musician, Tony Valentino, practice his alto sax and play jazz records.
Valentino gave Jocko some trumpet lessons, and introduced him to the music that would play the soundtrack to his life.
“When friends were listening to The Beatles, I was listening to Miles Davis, John Coltrane,” he said.
Jocko worshipped Frank Sinatra. Still does. He has 140 Sinatra albums.
He remembers the date — March 19, 1986 — he met Sinatra at a private party in Swansea. Jocko’s cousin had invited him to the party and he got introduced to Sinatra. Jocko carries a picture from the occasion, of his cousin, him and Sinatra.
Jocko remembers it as the night he made Sinatra laugh. And Sinatra likely remembered it as the night the guy followed him around the party like a puppy.
His continued devotion to the art form has attracted some big names, among them saxophonists Scott Hamilton, Phil Woods and Harry Allen; trumpeter Claudio Roditi, bassist Marshall Wood of Tony Bennett’s band, guitarist Gray Sargent and pianist Mike Renzi (Tony Bennett), drummer Mark Walker and bassist Oscar Stagnaro (Paquito D’Rivera), pianist Tim Ray (Lyle Lovett), and pianist Jetro daSilva (Whitney Houston), and now Gates.
Musicians play numbers here that they will not play anywhere else — a generosity born of the audience’s appreciation for music.
And the performers attract rapt audiences.
They include jazz-loving musicians from Berklee College in Boston, jazz-loving lawyers from the Valley, jazz-loving sisters from Methuen.
“The greatest audience in the world,” Jocko calls the crowd.
Jeffrey Kitaeff, a lawyer in North Andover, has been a Jocko’s regular since its inception, 19 years ago, only missing Tuesday nights when he’s traveling.
“There is one rule at the Sahara Club,” he said. “When the musicians are playing, everyone knows to keep their conversations to a whisper.”
Among the regulars are Methuen sisters Cecelia Hatem and Bernice Spencer, who routinely occupy a table by the stage.
Sitting out a Tuesday night would be like skipping school.
When they first started going to the shows, they sat at a booth at the end, but Jocko wanted them near the stage.
They get dressed up, order dinner and await the announcement: “Good night, ladies and gentlemen, welcome to Sahara jazz.”
“We can’t talk during the performance,” Hatem said.
“If anyone is talking behind me, I give them the evil eye,” Spencer said.
The sound is impeccable, done by an unassuming gentleman, Bill Hanley, who has been setting up sound systems since the 1950s.
His resume includes working the monitor at the Newport Folk Festival in Rhode Island when Bob Dylan went electric and wiring sound at Woodstock. Closer to home, he did the sound for The Beatles in 1966 when they played Suffolk Downs in East Boston, and for The Rolling Stones at the Manning Bowl in Lynn.
As Woodstock nears its 50th anniversary, music lovers around the country are celebrating the iconic festival’s message of “peace, love and music.” But without Merrimac resident Bill Hanley, that message might not have been so loud and clear in the first place.
Known as “the Father of Festival Sound,” Hanley, now 82, designed, built and operated the concert sound system at the three-day event in 1969 and even helped select the farm in Bethel, New York, where it was held.
While Hanley admitted that his role behind the sound board made him somewhat of a musician, he said his focus has always been purely on bringing what’s onstage to the ears of the audience.
“I can’t play an instrument and I don’t know much about making music, but I certainly enjoy dancing to it a lot,” he said.
Woodstock turns 50 on Aug. 15 and to celebrate, Hanley will participate in a short question-and-answer session during a tribute concert tonight at 7 at Merrimac Public Library, 86 W. Main St.
Hanley, born and raised in Medford, began playing around with electronics at an early age and built his first radios when he was about 6 years old.
He soon developed a penchant for audio equipment and eventually accumulated a collection of high fidelity speakers that he used to blare Christmas music through his neighborhood during the holidays, much to the delight of his neighbors.
After becoming frustrated with the “hideous” quality of sound systems at roller skating rinks and other venues he frequented as a young adult, Hanley sought to bring much-needed clarity to the way people experienced music.
“It would be a good thing to do for society, I thought,” Hanley said this week. “Nobody was watching the levels or paying attention to the sound. Music wasn’t being brought out very well to the masses, and nobody seemed to really care.”
Hanley went on to innovate several techniques that revolutionized amplification at concerts, including improvements to speaker placement and putting microphones on each instrument onstage. He also pioneered the sound engineer’s “front of the house” listening position, which gave him a better perspective when fine-tuning his mixes.
Word of Hanley’s talent spread, and he was soon brought on to run sound during antiwar protests and even the 1965 inauguration of President Lyndon B. Johnson. From there, Hanley and his trademark heavy-duty sound system were introduced to the world of rock ‘n’ roll.
“The louder they played, the louder their sound system had to be,” Hanley said. “I was the only guy … I made the marketplace.”
Before long, Hanley and his crew had the most sought-after service in live audio, and he spent much of the 1960s touring the country with groups that included The Beach Boys, Neil Young and Buffalo Springfield, to name a few.
One of his most difficult gigs, he said, was a string of about 10 concerts on The Beatles’ U.S. tour in 1966 during which the crowd’s loud cheers and screams made it hard for him to hear the band.
Another challenge for Hanley came when he was behind the sound board at the Newport Jazz Festival in 1965, which featured Bob Dylan’s controversial first performance with electric instruments.
“I was at the controls when Dylan went electric,” Hanley recalled. “That was tough with Peter Yarrow rumbling around telling me to turn it up louder, and Pete Seeger was there trying to keep it down, trying to keep electricity out of that realm.”
But of course, Hanley’s ultimate claim to fame is his role at Woodstock, where his speakers amplified performances from some of the most revered names in rock ‘n’ roll history, including his personal favorite, Janis Joplin.
“She was a very nice girl. I liked her music, her enthusiasm and excitement,” Hanley said. “It was very sad when … .” His voice trailed off.
Joplin died in 1970 at the age of 27.
“I knew Jimi (Hendrix), I liked him a lot,” Hanley added. “He was a very nice guy.”
But while many still regard Woodstock as the cornerstone event for 1960s counterculture, Hanley recalled viewing the festival as “just another project” at the time. His focus was on his work — he kept his head down, fully engrossed in ensuring things went smoothly.
“I wasn’t thinking in those lines. I’m an engineer,” Hanley explained. “I think about it in speakers, how to hold them together from one end to the other, make sure the microphone’s in the right place. Those are what I concentrate on, not content. I never look at it from any other point of view other than making what happens onstage clear to the audience.”
“It gets all tied together, the joy of doing music and making people happy and enjoying your workmanship. I don’t look back at the other parts of it, I’m immersed in electricity and electronics and electroacoustic devices.
When asked how his hearing is today, Hanley said it could be better, but he still has yet to buy a pair of hearing aids.
“What’d you say?” Hanley joked. “There’s some hearing loss, but I’m waiting for the price to come down so I can get a set.”
Jocko’s wife, Ann, is hostess at the weekly jazz nights. His brother, Dick Arcidiacono, videos the performances.
Performers come here for the audience, the intimate setting and for Jocko.
This night back in spring, the Chris Flory Trio, led by the group’s namesake jazz veteran, traveled here from Rhode Island. It was the trio’s third time taking the cabaret-style stage.
Drummer Marty Richards has played in hosts of jazz and rock bands, including the Joe Perry Project. He said the small club setting, coupled with Jocko’s passion, make the Sahara appealing.
Marty Ballou, a longtime musician and member of the Massachusetts Music Hall of Fame, answered the jazz calling decades ago and is glad for Jocko’s dedication to the art form.
“This dude is keeping it alive,” he said.
Some 60 people sat in the audience. Jocko knows them by name.
He visits them at tables with blue cloth spreads and electric candles.
“The regular crew is getting older and older,” he said. “Some have passed away and some don’t drive at night.”
But Jocko’s dream endures. Jazz lovers remain.
“We are holding our own,” Jocko said.
IF YOU GO
What: Jocko’s Jazz
When: Tuesday nights, 7:30 to 10:30
Where: Sahara Club and Restaurant, 34 Bates St., Methuen
More information: Call 603-898-1591 or visit jockosjazz.com for more information or reservations.
