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Essentials in
History
Garden State Quartet
Updated: 3/29/2004 5:42:00 PM
The Garden State Quartet celebrated the 50th anniversary of their championship in 1946. This New Jersey foursome was a versatile quartet, offering both comedy routines and straight sets , which made them popular performers until their
retirement in 1954.
It was early 1941 when Ted Rau joined the Western Electric Company and met Jim Verdick. The two struck up a friendship and discovered a mutual love of quartetting. Jim mentioned that he knew a pretty good lead named Bob Freeland. The three got together, liked what they heard, and decided to look around for a bass. Jim, a member of the Garden State Glee Club, suggested they do a little scouting at the next club meeting.
They arrived in time for the gang singing. Ted was impressed when he overheard Joe Marrese hit the low notes, and persuaded him to join them for a few trial songs. Joe was quickly voted in as bass of the newly formed Garden State Quartet.
But World War II put the quartet's career on hold. In 1942 Bob was drafted into the Army and Jim, a former navy man, enlisted in the SeaBees (naval engineers).
By the end of the year, though, Bob had been discharged and the quartet was on the hunt for a new bari. Recalling the scene of their earlier success, they returned to the glee club, where Joe spotted an old friend asleep in a chair. They crept up on the unsuspecting Jack Briody and shook him awake.
"Hey Jack, how're the pipes?" asked Joe. "Just as lousy as ever," was the quick response.
This little disclaimer got Jack nowhere, however, and soon he was trying out for the bari spot. Much to their mutual delight, their four voices formed a satisfying blend.
In June the quartet won a contest sponsored by the city of Newark, and in November took the "unofficial"* New Jersey State Championship at Paterson. There they met Society President Hal Staab, who encouraged them to compete at Detroit in June, 1944.
They performed a "seaside" set in turn-of-the-century bathing costumes, giving the audience a few good chuckles and receiving a 5th place medal in return.
That fall they again won the unofficial State Championship. The following May they qualified for a shot at the national title (held for a second year in Detroit). In June, singing before an audience of over 6,000, they took first prize at a contest held in conjunction with the Diamond Anniversary celebration of the Boardwalk in Atlantic City.
An increasingly crowded schedule of shows and parade appearances had taken its toll, however, and the quartet dropped to a finalist position at Detroit. They vowed to work harder. But Joe's move to Pennsylvania, coupled with gas shortages and a strike at Western Electric, made it difficult to get together.
Despite these problems, they qualified at regionals for a trip to the 1946 contest. Then bad luck struck again. Bob Freeland showed up at the train for Cleveland with a bad case of laryngitis, his pockets bulging with lemons. He had decided that the lemons would alleviate his condition and allow them to compete. And so Bob sucked lemon halves nonstop until it was time to go on stage.
The quartet began their set a little nervously, but soon settled when it seemed Bob was singing over the laryngitis. With a mix of surprise and relief, they learned they made the cut to finals. That evening they sailed through "Where The Dreamy Wabash Flows" and "Way Down In Georgia" to take the gold.
After winning, they hurried back to the Hotel Carter, where they spent two hours singing "Roses of Morn" for a Pathe newsreel. The monotony was broken from time to time by kisses from Cleveland Sesquicentennial Queen Mary Dublin. (The whole thing was edited into a two and a half minute feature that appeared on newsreels in June and July).
Returning home, the quartet was greeted with a lavish celebration sponsored by the Jersey Chapter. It was a terrific kick-off for a gruelling championship year in which they travelled nearly 50,000 miles.
The Garden Staters remained an extremely popular and versatile quartet, offering both comedy routines and straight sets which highlighted their beautiful soft blend. They were much in demand throughout the eastern United States and Canada until their retirement in 1954 on the death of Joe Marrese.
*In the Society's very early days, many local contests were not official SPEBSQSA-sponsored affairs, but to many this was a fine distinction with little meaning.
At 1:30 am on September 28, 1947, the quartet was rounded up and carted away by the Hornell Police Department. It seems that after appearing on the Hornell Parade, the foursome was lured over to the Moose Club for a few numbers. They soon ran afoul of a Hornell ordinance requiring all noise to cease at 1:00 am. Four quartets went to their rescue, only to wind up behind bars when they began serenading the night captain. They finally wore him down around 4:00 am, when he released the captive crooners so he could get some sleep.
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