Saturday, November 21, 2009

Open Hearth and Friends . . .

Before the north wall was removed and the lighted "disco" dance floor was installed, it was "Nick's Domino Club", before that it was "The Port Hole" with an 8 foot round window facing the Tamiami Trail, but around 1970 it became the:

These are T-shirt captures

Cameron played so many gigs there in the early 70's they almost became family. Lane Cameron now has a recording studio in Reno.

(Big Daddy's reference has been removed)

27 comments:

  1. I was never a "Big Daddy's" person. But the Hearth and some good times/bands at the red pool tables, on the red carpet was a perfect Saturday night.

    ROCK ON CAMERON!!! Correct me if I'm wrong, but weren't they out of Ft. Lauderdale?

    C3R...

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    1. Yes they were out of Ft Lauderdale.Saw them at the 747 in Miami a few times, and other Big Daddys in Ft. Lauderdale. I new some of the band at the time, (Lane's Brother and others) and they did great covers of thge Allman Brothers. I actually still have there album. Saw them again when I was in the service, in Pensacola at a place called "The Third World". Great band.

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  2. I removed a brief reference to "Big Daddy's" from my original posting. I don't know what I was thinking . . . my "dumb light" musta been on. Thanks for the nudge C3R.

    Cahoon and Oldham were out of Ft. Lauderdale / Hollywood. Don't know about Cameron. I do know, however, that Lane Cameron has had a recording studio in Reno for quite a few years.

    SH

    9:31 PM PST

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    1. What happened to Cahoon and Oldham? I saw them in Ft.t Lauderdale, Ft. Myers, Miami and Naples.

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  3. Cameron played some Naples High School events. Janis and Mindy Korobow's dad, Herm, one of the coolest dads who ever lived, managed the Hearth. He greased the skids to get Cameron to play NHS gigs.

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  4. Cameron !!!!!
    SH I can’t believe you posted this. I have something from them way back then and I have to look for it one day. I have more to say about that place later.

    VBH

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  5. Many thanks to anonymous for the kind words about Herm, (Janis and Taylor's dad).He passed away in 1996 and is still in my heart. How wonderful it was to read that he is still remembered for his kindness so many years later.
    Mimi Korobow - motherocean99@yahoo.com

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  6. My dad Captain Jim worked at the Port Hole for a short time and a lot of well-known entertainers performed there like Jerry Lee Luis and ah ah ??? on this tinny stage in the corner. Later to become the Open Hearth and great bands like Cameron and ah ah ???
    Man my mind is as sharp as a capped sharpie. I know I have a record from Cameron,
    Signatures and all but I don’t know where I put that crate of vinyl to take a picture.
    I think there were about 3 bars you could go to back then and we would hit all 3 in one night. My right arm is stronger than my left now from lifting all those heavy beers!

    VBH

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  7. The Monkeys played there(well Micky and Davy anyway)about 1977. My girlfriend at the time had to see them. Carter Miller Band played there towards the end before they started playing at Andy's Steakhouse. I seem to remember sitting with some locals, one of them now a prominent Dr. now, tossing empty glasses under the table then stomping on them. you weren't there were you Brookside Homeboy?

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  8. I saw Mickey and Davy that night. Both were stoned out of their heads! Or drunk, I’m just not sure. My friends and I were leaving that evening as Mickey and Davy were coming out of a back door. Of course we went right up to them like swooning groupies and Davy wanted my friend, Gwen, to take a ride with him. Woo-hoo! She didn’t go, I wonder if she ever regrets that? Oh what a night.

    Andy’s Steakhouse. Wow that was a 70’s phenomenon for me. I was between husbands and spent a lot of time there. I remember some great music. What band was it that always played Aja “Black Cow?”

    LPHG

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  9. Andy's Stake house it rings a bell where is it? maybe a picture or an address? North Naples or Bonita, best prime rib I ever had I think?

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  10. The best Prime Rib you ever had couldn't have been in Naples. Great a place as it was to grow up in, Naples was not a foodie or steakhouse town. Still isn't if truth be told. Best prime shark chum... that I can believe. Back to Herman Korobow at the Open Hearth. He saved my flat ass from what I think was a mafia beatdown. I clipped a big gold Caddy in the Hearth parking lot. Put a dent in its driver door. Herman saw what happened through the liquor store window and came running out. Told me to get going, now, fast. I did. Few days later I ran into Herman at Publix. He told me that Caddy owner was livid, that there was all but a hit out on the perp who dented the car. Herman never squealed. Who is Taylor? Was there a third sister?
    Great guy, Herman Korobow.
    Gill and Vic, Naples first *** couple

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  11. To answer a couple of questions:

    1.) Andy's was on the east Trail, where the old American Dept. Store once hailed, in the same shopping center as the first MacDonald's and the two screen theater.

    2.) Carter-Miller played Black Cow and several other Steely Dan songs, along with some other great stuff.

    3.) I can find my copy of Cameron's first album. I'll scan and send it soon.

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    1. They played a lot of Springsteen

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  12. Cameron was a great band and good guys. I still have their vinyl.

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  13. Yes, Cameron came out of Ft. Lauderdale. They broke up in the late 70's. Lane started a new band, The Lane Cameron Band after he got into Scientology. Charlie,Gary and Mike continued on as Cameron. I too have the vinyl and one of my favorites was an original called Road to Damscus. They originally played at the Port Hole in '74. My husband and I knew all of them pretty well over the mid to late '70's. Thanks for the memories.

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  14. I have a bunch of photos I'll dig up of them playing an outdoor concert someplace in 1974

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  15. I worked the Open Hearth,I don't remember Herm.Jim Anglin and Bob Woods managed it when I work there.I worked the Monkey's- I served drinks as a monkey suit..( not a cute one either)I also worked Tiny Tim,Molly Hatchet and of course Cameron.Also we had Hearth Attacks $5.00 all you could drink..Crazy times at the Hearth..Does anyone remember "The Barn"?

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  16. " The Barn " .... It's where we would go to find someone to buy us beer when the fake ID failed at the Drive Thru on the other side of 41. The Open Hearth brings back some great memories, and the great times i had with my friends like Gary Herforth, Randy Fry, Jerry Cooksly, Wayne Carraway, HUMP ( If any of you remember him and the party's at his house ), I cant imagine a town better than Naples to be raised in... we had it all... The Pier..Partys at Sea Gate and Dr's Pass.... The Pier to hang out....The Beach Store....Chris's....Lums....Cony Island. The best most fun years of my life were spent here , Thank You All

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  17. Anonymous, you must have worked @ the Hearth when I did- worked all those nights also. Bob & his wife Sheri ran the club after the other Bob. I tended bar with Sheri at night, also I filled in during the Day for Sharon ( awsome girl with long brown hair) she also worked at Captain's Cabin for many years. Molly Hatchet's music was so loud there, the glasses behind the bar used to shatter!! Good Times!!

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  18. I used to sneak into the Open Hearth with my fake id....Cameron was the best band I ever saw there in the early 70's. Great players & vocals....I also worked at a nearby package liquor store for Herm Korobow with a guy named Jimmy who taught me how to play liars poker....I also dated Herms daughter Mindy for a short period but was too wet behind the ears for her at the time, boy was she beautiful. Her mom & dad were always very nice to me. Great times in Naples.

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    1. Hey must of gone to school with you class of 96

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  19. I worked as a bouncer in 73 or 74 when Jerry Lee Lewis opened the expanded Open Hearth. Tickets were sold for two shows that night. Jerry Lee got drunk between the two shows, demanding more money to go back on for the second show. About two or three songs into the second show, he jumped onto the piano and began to ripping ceiling tiles out throwing them around. The owner threw him off the stage and we almost had a riot. Went on to tend bar there and also tended bar at Big Daddy's when that opened up the following year. Great times hanging out south of the Naples Pier playing frisbie during the day and tending bar at night. Cameron played at the Hearth a lot and Asule was also a very popular band that played there often. Cameron played a free concert at a park near the Court House off of Airport Pulling.

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  20. Didn't Styx play there in the early 70's. Also, remember a place called the Witches Brew. Do recall Andy's Steak House, where American Department store was located in the Gulfgate Shopping Plaza. TG&Y, Publix, Eagle Army Navy, etc. There was also A gift card shop, a liquor store a Sears appliance store, a laundromat, Edison community college and a Dairy Queen in that plaza :)

    I saw Star Wars at the Gulfgate Theater in 1977 when it was still a single screen. They remodeled it and added a second screen soon after, IIRC.

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  21. played there in two different bands. Ross Emery Band and Idle Rumors.Circa 79 to 62. bob and sherry were great owners and nice peeps. much fun from what i can remember......ha ha

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  22. loved playing music there circa 78 to 82. i played guitar in the ross emery band and idle rumors. the owners were great. bob and sherry i partied hardy

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  23. I worked at the Open Hearth from May of ‘77 until New Year’s Eve that year. It was owned by the same people that owned Big Daddy’s, I had to interview there & I absolutely hated disco 😂 We had to take a lie detector test & have a criminal background check to get hired. Bob & Sherri Schaffer were the managers at the time & they were like family to all of us that worked there. There were so many cool bands that played there, a lot of them were cover bands, & there were a ton of Elvis impersonators. Some of the best times of my life & met so many wonderful
    people! And making $150 plus a night in tips was amazing!!

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