Wednesday, October 10, 2012

Music Mountain, Avon Lodge, South Fallsburg, NY


1944 Avon Lodge
Music Mountain was located at the Avon Lodge in Woodridge. The Village of Woodridge is in the Town of Fallsburg. Raphael Kasofsky and Meyer Arkin were owners of the popular Avon Lodge a mile outside of Woodridge. Arkin's 156 acre Avon Lodge was where Sid Caesar first performed in public. As a member of the hotel's kitchen staff in the 1940s, Sid and others put on socially aware plays and skits in the hotel theater, including works by Clifford Odets.



Music Mountain was founded by Jacques Gordon, founder and first violinist of the Gordon String Quartet, with the primary mission of education through the performance of the chamber music literature, specifically, the music for the string quartet.
Jaques Gordon
In 1930 Mr. Gordon established summer residence in Falls Village, New York. The Gordon Musical Association, established that same year, maintained a summer school of music called Music Mountain, where many students gathered to study repertory and chamber music and to hear performances by the Gordon String Quartet.(4) Mr. Gordon is buried behind Gordon Hall, on the property.

Don Appel moved his troupe to the Avon Lodge in the summer of 1942 from Kutsher's Country Club in Monticello.(3)

The concrete bandshell remains although quite decrepit...there is the Navasink River in front of property.(1)

Nicholas Gordon, was the son of the founder and president of Music Mountain in 1981. The publicisct was Donald Kobler.(5)

The Allman Brothers played here on August 22, 1981.
The Beach Boys performed here on September 4, 1981.

Music Mountain is the nation’s oldest and most distinguished continuing summer chamber music festival. It moved to Falls Village , CT sometime after 1982.

The property is for sale.



Jerry performed here on
6/16/82 Jerry Garcia Band




1.)^Miller, Scott, Scottshredder@gmail.com
2.)^Grine Felder, http://www.columbia.edu/~lnp3/mydocs/culture/Grine_Felder.htm
3.)^Caesar, Sid, Caesar's Hours:My Life in Comedy, pg 34
4.)^Watanabe, Ruth, The Gordon Collection of String Music, vol.7, winter 1952, no. 2
5.)^Daytona Beach Morning Journal, 81-05-21, Old Group Dropped Abruptly, pg 17a
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14 comments:

  1. AuggieEastDecember 17, 2012 at 8:23 PM

    Bobby & The Midnights also played at this show, one in a four show tour together, all of which I attended. I'm pretty sure they did some tunes together, but can't remember if it was at all 4 shows

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    1. MhughesJuly 10, 2013 at 3:17 AM

      I too was at that show...Amazing. Remember the side of the mountain turned into a huge slip and slide fro the rain??

      Delete
    2. UnknownSeptember 19, 2013 at 10:21 AM

      I was at music mountain. Jerry Opened and it was a BEAUTIFUL sunny day. Bobby closed the show IN A MONSOON!!! His crew were trying to sweep/squeegee rain off the stage while Weir & Cochran were getting shocked from the mics & standing on cabinets to keep from getting electricuted. Lol They refused to stop playing because us fans refused to seek shelter. I was lucky enough to be front row & a girl behind me had a tarp which ended up being stretched to 2-3x its size & didn't tear.Needless to say I remained dry until show ended & trudged through mud to get to my car. I will ALWAYS REMEMBER THIS SHOW including trying to get out of the parking lot as so many cars were stuck in the mud. For years I've been trying to find a copy of this show so if anyone reads this & can help me pleas find me on FB or richbass62@ gmail.com. Thanks

      Delete
    3. UnknownSeptember 19, 2013 at 10:21 AM

      I was at music mountain. Jerry Opened and it was a BEAUTIFUL sunny day. Bobby closed the show IN A MONSOON!!! His crew were trying to sweep/squeegee rain off the stage while Weir & Cochran were getting shocked from the mics & standing on cabinets to keep from getting electricuted. Lol They refused to stop playing because us fans refused to seek shelter. I was lucky enough to be front row & a girl behind me had a tarp which ended up being stretched to 2-3x its size & didn't tear.Needless to say I remained dry until show ended & trudged through mud to get to my car. I will ALWAYS REMEMBER THIS SHOW including trying to get out of the parking lot as so many cars were stuck in the mud. For years I've been trying to find a copy of this show so if anyone reads this & can help me pleas find me on FB or richbass62@ gmail.com. Thanks

      Delete
    4. AnonymousDecember 10, 2014 at 4:47 PM

      It's really bugging me trying to determine if there area I'm looking at on Google Earth is the right spot.

      I remember seeing Ozzy Osbourne (with Randy Rhoads) there on Aug 8, 1981. Def Leppard was the opening act supporting their High and Dry album.
      I was looking at area designated for "Avon Lodge" and it...sorta resembles the area I remember.
      I do remember being on a hillside with the stage at the base of the hill with a small pond in front of the stage - sort of offset to the right. There was a house directly ( almost attached to the stage ) - to the left. The parking lot was to the right of the stage after walking for a bit. Looks like there is a small development there now. I do not, however, remember having to cross a creek to get to the parking lot or there being the neversink river beyond the stage. The current image shows no bridge crossing the creek anyway, so no idea how we would have gotten to the parking lot that I remember.
      That was the summer between Jr. High School and Sr. High School, so it's definitely a challenge to recall.
      I still have the Ozzy concert jersey though! It's different than most jerseys as it was a two tone blue and white jersey with short white sleeves with Adidas type stripes on them.
      Good times. It's a shame that the place looks so run down now.

      Delete
    5. AnonymousSeptember 11, 2024 at 10:19 AM

      Husband went with friends and said they were all HIGH&DRY as it poured before and after the show,but not during.He also still has concert shirt from OZZY& MOTÖRHEADs spring show that year!

      Delete
  2. Jerry's Brokendown PalacesJuly 10, 2013 at 7:17 AM

    Hi Rusell and Mhughes,
    Please email me at slipnut01@gmail.com

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    Replies
    1. Racing DevelopmentJune 1, 2021 at 12:14 PM

      I would love to a copy of the music mountain series handbill as I also attended many shows there and lived in nearby Monticello. Email barrylevinson@mac.com

      Delete
  3. AnonymousMay 23, 2017 at 6:01 PM

    I was supposed to see the Ozzy show with Randy there 08/08/81 and never got to go because my older brother who I was gonna go with came down with tonsillitis!!! Damn! I never got to see Randy Rhoads live at all! He's my favorite guitarist of all time. Bothers me till this day! Found out however that there is a recording of that exact Music Mountain show so I am in the process of getting it. At least now I can listen to what I missed in person.

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  4. AnonymousJanuary 26, 2018 at 7:50 PM

    This show was... something! In the middle of the boonies deep in the Catskills, JGB warmed up w/ 2 sets, ffs! Then Bobby played for like, 3 hours in the monsoon. And yes, the mountain did turn into a slip 'n' slide. That's not an exaggeration. I vaguely recall Catfish from Jerry, and Big Iron? from Bobby. The rest has been sorta "rained out". What a freakin' show.

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  5. UnknownMarch 14, 2019 at 9:53 AM

    I still have the Music Mountain concert series handbill listing all the acts from the Summer of 1981. I was a college intern for Supreme Artists (NYC music promoters) who had the concession and clean-up lease for the venue. I believe Robert Berman was the music promoter and ran the night club/disco at the Avon Lodge that summer. AC DC substituted for Peter Frampton on July 25.
    For the Allman Brother (World Tour 1981) show on August 1, I remember being amazed how much whisky and other alcohol we had to off load from a truck for their dressing room. The Ozzy concert (Blizzard of Oz) was crazy. Berman put on a barbecue for the band pre-show and Ozzie was eating the pork spare ribs raw. During the clean-up on Sunday August 9 we found an abandoned wheelchair and figured Ozzie "healed" the guy and he walked out of there. Every Saturday night was a blast, oh to be 20 years old again.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Jerry's Brokendown PalacesMarch 14, 2019 at 10:38 AM

      Unknown, please email me at slipnut01@gmail.com. I'd like to see the concert series handbill.

      Delete
    2. UnknownMarch 25, 2019 at 8:14 PM

      Sent a copy of the concert series handbill to your gmail account. Remembered the nightclub/disco on the Avon Lodge property was named "Bananas". Thought the name was silly at the time, with hindsight it was aptly named.

      Delete
    3. UnknownOctober 2, 2021 at 5:43 PM

      Howdy, I would love to see that Music Mountain Handbill for the Summer of '81. I was at the Ozzy/Def Leppard show. 40 years ago! Man oh man. Thanks in advance! JB

      Delete

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