Original Golden Nugget nightspot featured nothing but the best
By Bruce Klauber
Elaine’s Lounge, within the original Golden Nugget Hotel and Casino on the Atlantic City Boardwalk, was an extraordinary venue where visitors, for the price of a drink, could see legendary performers that, before the Nugget opened, could only be enjoyed in Las Vegas.
When Vegas casino magnate Steve Wynn bought Atlantic City’s venerable Strand Hotel on Boston Avenue and the Boardwalk for $8.5 million, and built the Nugget in 1980, he insisted that every part of it be first class. That included the lounge, named Elaine’s in honor of his wife. In the years that it was the Nugget, roughly 1980 to 1987, and for a few years following when it became Bally’s Grand, the level of entertainment in that lounge was incredible.
With a couple of exceptions, most of the visiting entertainers were backed by a world-class rhythm section, comprised of Paul Jost, bassist Andy Lalasis, and a number of pianists, including Dean Schneider, Dave Hartl and Demetrios Pappas. The section was so admired that several of the performers who played Elaine’s stayed past their booking dates to record with this tightest of rhythm sections.
Here’s a partial who’s who of just some of the iconic entertainers who visited Elaine’s over the years, thanks to the extraordinary good taste of booking agent Andrea Kauffman, and Nugget Entertainment Director Frankie Randall, a superb pianist/singer, who often performed in the lounge as well.
One of the most singular performers to be booked at Elaine’s was singer/pianist Johnnie Ray. It’s difficult to describe just how big Ray was in the early 1950s, except to say that he knocked Sinatra off the charts and sold millions of records with songs like “Cry.”
Facing difficulties with substance abuse, his star began to dim, at least stateside, around 1960. He nonetheless had a decent career on the strength of his name. His stint at Elaine’s in the late 1980s, where he sang and accompanied himself on piano, was one of his last. He passed away in 1990 at the age of 63.
Jazz singer Chris Connor, a direct descendant of the Anita O’Day/June Christy “cool school” of jazz singing, was quite popular in jazz circles from the mid-1950s on. Connor always had a substantial following and did well at smaller venues like Elaine’s, where she appeared in the mid-1980s. She continued to record and make personal appearances until a year before her passing in 2009.
Bobby Scott, a pianist, singer, composer and arranger, was one of the most brilliantly talented entertainers – musically, intellectually and otherwise – ever to appear at the Nugget’s lounge. Scott, best known for his hit, “Chain Gang,” and as composer of “A Taste of Honey” and “He Ain’t Heavy, He’s my Brother;” had a talent that went way beyond that of a pop singer who also played piano. Those who remember Scott’s engagement at Elaine’s and those who got to know him during that time in the mid-1980s, will not forget it. I know I won’t.
The late singer, Johnny Hartman, is one of the most talented and underrated artists in the history of jazz. He worked with Dizzy Gillespie and Erroll Garner in the late 1940s, and often recorded for smaller labels throughout the 1950s. His biggest breakthrough came in 1963 when he recorded with John Coltrane for Impulse! Records.
Hartman was the only vocalist ever to record with “Trane” and many of the songs from their album, “John Coltrane and Johnny Hartman,” have been used on the soundtracks of dozens of films. Had Hartman lived, he would have been a millionaire several times over. A heavy smoker, Hartman died in 1983 and was one of Elaine’s earliest visitors.
Morgana King portrayed Carmela Corleone, wife of Vito Corleone, in the movie, “The Godfather.” Those who remember King only from that well-remembered film role, might not be aware that she was one of the most individual, eclectic and original jazz-oriented singers in a career that lasted from the mid-1950s until around 2000. The booking of King at Elaine’s, spearheaded by agent Andrea Kauffman, was pretty special for area jazz fans. King was one of those singers whose sound and style were instantly identifiable. You knew who it was after hearing just a few measures.
Billy Daniels was another individual song stylist who made his name with an early-1950s hit, “That Old Black Magic.” Daniels was versatile and did well in supporting roles on Broadway, in early television and even in a couple of films. His followers in lounges and smaller theaters, especially in London and Australia, were legion. His stand at Elaine’s was one of his last. He died in 1987, the same year the Golden Nugget became Bally’s Grand.
It’s been said that Sylvia Syms – the singer, not the British actress – was among Frank Sinatra’s favorite singers. In fact, Sinatra conducted her 1982 album, “Syms by Sinatra.” Though Syms had a million-selling record in, “I Could Have Danced All Night,” released in 1956, her substantial audience was made up, in large part, of New Yorkers who enjoyed her frequent appearances at the Café Carlyle, sometimes in tandem with Carlyle mainstay Bobby Short. Again, thanks to Andrea Kauffman, a Syms Atlantic City appearance was a certifiable event.
He wasn’t the biggest star to ever appear at Elaine’s, but Chicago-based guitarist and singer Frank D’Rone was a vastly underrated talent and may well be the most fondly-remembered of any performer who ever graced the stage of Elaine’s. Nat “King” Cole wrote the notes to D’Rone’s first recording, released in 1959, and his career was off and running. His singing and his guitar playing were praised by jazz critics, and he did well at engagements that ranged from jazz festivals to smaller venues like Elaine’s.
Like Sylvia Syms, it could be said that he was something of a cult figure, though with a much larger audience. He appeared at Elaine’s frequently, during and after the Golden Nugget days. The personable and approachable D’Rone was quite the character. Many of us in the Atlantic City musical community miss him and still speak of him often.
