The Pittsburgh Press from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania • Page 144

i ART "It was a catastrophe," Art laughs. "When I lifted Doris to swing her around, we hit the curtain and knocked it down. The show was held up for two hours and I slunk out the-back door, crimson with embarrassment. The producer was livid." Art's memories of Dick Powell are particularly warm. "I took over Dick's band when he left for Hollywood and we opened the Cocoanut Grove on Liberty Avenue in Bloomfield," reports Art.

"My band was the first to do a remote broadcast from a nightclub, over KDKA Radio." Call From Powell Later, when Art went to Hollywood and took a band to the Palladium, a phone call arrived at intermission from Powell, to wish him well. Dick was out to hear the band on a later night. But, even more important, Powell helped Art sign a contract with General Artists Corp. for seven years. Farrar, by the way, is a saxophone player, although he started out as a violinist.

But, to go back a bit, when he was growing up in East Liberty, Farrar lived only four blocks from jazz-pianist Erroll Garner and had a hand in giving him his local start. "I was booked into the Savoy Ballroom in the Hill District and Erroll was looking for a break this was about 1940 and so he played with the orchestra," explains Farrar. "It was one of the really top places in Pittsburgh at the time a spot for him to be heard. you know, doesn't read music, but that's never been any problem. All he needs to do is hear something once and he can play it." Once he arrived in Hollywood, Art and his orchestra played up and down the coast, including San Diego.

In 1945. Farrar won the "Valentino of the Music World" award as the' most photogenic of over 100 bandleaders. Frank Sinatra presented him with a gold trophy at the Columbia 'Playhouse in Hollywood. "Frankie Laine sang with me and I've appeared with Count Basie. "1 came back to Pittsburgh around 1948 when dance bands were on the way out in Hollywood," he explains.

"Believe it or not Lawrence Welk then was lucky to get two steady nights a week of work out there." Cities, theaters and hotels' in which he appeared with his orchestra over the years include the Roosevelt Hotel, New Orleans; Chase Hotel, St. Roseland Ballroom, New York City; Peabody Hotel, Memphis; and the Enright and Stanley theaters in Pittsburgh. He still makes regular appearances in such places as Youngstown, Canton and Cincinnati. "Right now, I'm. making plans for regular weekly variety shows in the Pittsburgh district, maybe in one rf the.

suburbs," he points out. "We will have comedians, impersonations anj vocalists." The plans haven't jelled, but Farrar hopes to put on productions" similar to what the Enright and Sheridan Square theaters featured years ago. "The time is ripe for it now," he is certain. A FELLOW from East Liberty who competed with Dick Powell to become emcee of the Enright Theater, played a part in giving Erroll Gamer his start and had Stan Getz as a sideman in his orchestra, believes a new era of "big is underway. He is Art Farrar, now 57, who organized a band at 18 while attending Peabody High School and played such popular local spots as the Bryn Mawr Ballroom in East Liberty and the Rittenhouse Hotel at North Highland and Broad.

Farrar then went on to Hollywood, -opening with his band at the Palladium before he was 20. "The agents are asking the older band leaders what other kind are there? to reorganize," Farrar points out. "Men like Krupa and Goodman. The popularity of groups like the Tijuana Brass and the featuring of name bands by entertainers, such as Jackie Gleason, are signs of what's happening." Farrar's interest is more than academic he has every intention of getting on the "bandwagon" himself. The evidence seems to show that he can.

Art Farrar and his Orchestra, back in 1952, recorded some popular songs on the Ruby label. They were Red Red Robin, How About You? and one written by Farrar and Bob Piper called The Beep. He recently was notified that these big hits recorded then are being re-issued on the Imperial label. "The return of big bands doesn't surprise me," Farrar insists. "I knew the pendulum would swing once young people were exposed to the big band sound.

I think a speed-up would occur if radio again broadcast 'live' from dance halls. The bands would be heard on car radios and the teens attracted to the scene." Farrar was introduced to the entertainment world in 1928 when he and his mother, Mrs. Esther Logiodice, were partners in breaking the world's marathon dance record at the Du-quesne Gardens an event sponsored by C. C. Crandall and a Mr.

Pyle. They lasted 533 hours, winning on July 6 when the only remaining contender collapsed. It was the 23rd consecutive night. Almost Disqualified "We entered as brother and sister I was 13 for I thought they might not allow a mother and son to take part," Art explains. "They found out how we were related while the competition was on and threatened to disqualify us.

But the crowd booed and we were allowed to continue, after a doctor examined me." This big break began Art's love affair with entertainment and at 14 he started studying to dance at Mamie Barth's Studio, then at 818 Liberty Ave. It was there he met Dolores Bittner who teamed with him as they danced the tango, among other places, at the Paris Inn, then on Fifth Avenue, the Club Mirador in Homestead and the old Nixon Restaurant on Sixth Street. One of their first appearances was in 1929 at the "Italian Night" show in the Persian Theater, a legitimate stock theater on Station Street in East Liberty. ilr 1'arrar Vrvdieta The iteiurn OS The Era Iff Orvhestra Toured The Country ARRAR Delahan Writer 30, 1967 Halloa! IIS By illiam Pre Staff PS IJ Th Pittsburgh Press, Sunday, April.