Fred Beitergarden was an old-school anchorman on the CBS news affiliate in Cincinnati. He and his wife had 10 kids and I met a couple of his sons through my music. They were both in bands that formed part of the local Indie community. One of the two, Jamie, worked for an Indie rag called Nobody’s Home. He had given my Under Whip And Chain CD (see chapter 13) a highly complimentary review.
While working on the Under Whip and Chain tracks, I was also writing material for the next recording. Since the two projects overlapped, I released a 7-inch containing a song from each; Big Blonde from Under Whip and Chain and Jane Gang from the upcoming Welcome Love CD. This single somehow managed to get a little airplay on the local public radio stations. I was also doing live shows occasionally and though I never developed a following, there always seemed to be venues that were willing to book me.
It had now become customary for bands to organize CD release shows celebrating and promoting the release of new recordings. I never gave this much thought but when dropping off Welcome Love for Jamie at the Nobody’s Home offices, he suggested I put one of these events together. As it happened, he and a friend were renting space in a huge old building, complete with ballroom and stage on the uppermost floor. We agreed to meet at the place a few days after this.
Welcome Love CD release show poster
The building was in Lockland, about 10 miles north of downtown. I drove there with Lilly (see chapter 12). It was located on Mill Street, opposite the Savings & Loan where my parents used to go each month to pay their mortgage. That was back when the Stearns & Foster factory was still down the street and, while I never thought of the neighborhood as beautiful, it did have a simple Midwestern charm. The whole area, including Jaime’s building, was now blighted. We found the entrance and rang the bell. After a minute or two he came down to let us in.
The inside had the same dilapidated look as the outside. In the years when the area was thriving, legit businesses occupied the first three floors but the top floors were used for an entirely different type of commercial venture. According to Jaime, during Prohibition, the upper floors served as the local speakeasy and whorehouse. There was dancing in the ballroom with makeshift bars in the adjacent rooms. Upstairs, in a much smaller loft area, tiny walled off units had been constructed, each one big enough to fit a mattress, where the girls worked. Because of this, the ballroom had been dubbed Theatre L’Amour.
We arranged a date for the show as well as several other details. On our way out, we met Jaime’s housemate coming up the stairs and were introduced. His name was Henry Raymond. He had an easy, affable manner that seemed fitting for the resident of an ex-whorehouse.
The show took place on a Saturday night in the middle of summer. Because the building contained no air-conditioning units, by the time the music started, the ballroom was sweltering. Jaime and Henry did a good job at getting the word around so the place was fairly crowded. There were three acts in the line-up and I would be closing the show. I had naively asked local Indie queen Dana Hamhock to possibly DJ the event. If memory serves, she didn’t even acknowledge my posing the question. The first performer was an aspiring new local AltCountry singer. This was his debut and he went over like an uninvited guest. Jaime’s band, Love America, followed him and they were more successful, presumably because the audience was filled with their friends. The only thing I remember about my set is that I almost passed out from heat exhaustion.
After this debacle, I vowed never to do another CD release show; a vow that was repeatedly broken. I crossed paths with Jaime occasionally and he was always very decent toward me. At some point, he tried to start a small indie label that went nowhere. There was talk of him getting into some heavy drug use but this may or may not be true. I would also run into Jaime’s friend, Henry, every so often and he too was always friendly. I remember seeing him at a concert once. He had just bought a digital camera when digital cameras were still a novelty and he was thrilled at the vast amount of images it could hold. Years later, he showed up for an outdoor July 4th concert that my band, The Tempers, played. By then, he was managing a real theater; The Odeon in Over The Rhine. That was the last time I saw Henry because not long after this, he attempted to murder his girlfriend and committed suicide.
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© 2014 by Maurice Mattei
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