By Chuck Darrow
In our recent roundup of holiday-facing entertainment in the casinos, we suggested that John Eddie’s “Holiday Ho-Ho-Hoedown” at Resorts Casino-Hotel was probably worth checking out thanks to the program’s unusual title.
But we were intrigued enough by the branding that we felt further investigation was required. A recent phone call to Eddie at his Nashville home resulted in the acquisition of a few details about Friday’s Yuletide-flavored rave-up at Resorts.
“We’re just gonna try and bring some specialness to it,” offered Eddie, who spent his musically formative years in Cherry Hill and nurtured his career along the Jersey Shore, most notably Asbury Park where, on a several occasions, he was joined onstage by Bruce Springsteen.
“We have Joe Sweeney, my old guitar player from the Front Street Runners [his first band] playing, and Jeff Levine on keyboards. And besides our regular show, we’re gonna be playing my first album [1986’s self-titled LP on the Columbia Records label] in its entirety in order. So it’s gonna be for the old South Jersey-Philly- Delaware crowd—the faithful fans who’ve supported us over all these years.
“But the rest of the show’s gonna be stuff from the last few albums and some Christmas songs, and it’s gonna be fun.”
As for the set’s seasonal elements, Eddie divulged nothing at all when we spoke a couple weeks ago. It’s not that he was being coy, but that he and his musicians had yet to address that part of the repertoire.
“That’s what we’re figuring out right now,” he advised. “I have one that I wrote called ‘Another Lonely Christmas,’ that we have to play, but there’s only so many [holiday tunes] that bands of my ilk do, like [Chuck Berry’s] ‘Run, Run, Rudolph’ and stuff like that. But we’re working on it. We’re actually rehearsing for this show!”
Eddie is famous in his circles for his self-deprecating sense of humor, which is why it was no surprise he responded with a hearty chuckle when it was suggested to him that such due diligence on the part of him and his band might fall under the “Christmas miracle” category.
Eddie will be performing on Atlantic City’s most historic casino-era stage, following in the footsteps of such show business giants as Frank Sinatra, Tony Bennett, Sammy Davis Jr., Johnny Carson, Diana Ross and even Jackie Gleason who, in November, 1978, was there to tape an hour-long The Honeymooners special.
“That’s a big thrill,” he said. “And it’s very cool. They have some memorabilia there in the halls, and it’s a big deal. I actually dig it. It’s an honor; I know it sounds cheesy to say that, but we’ve played other places in Atlantic City, but there’s something really special about playing there. The sound, the stage, the lights, everything about it is first-class. And [last April] the people at Resorts treated us great. So we appreciate that too. I hope it’s something we do every year.”
Actually, Eddie’s Superstar Theater gig is just the first part of Friday’s agenda. As he did in April at Resorts, he’ll be keeping the party going with a post-gig solo acoustic set at Dougherty’s Steakhouse & Raw Bar from 10 p.m. to 12:30 a.m.
These days, music is almost more of a side hustle for Eddie than a vocation. That’s because he has formed a creative partnership with Priscilla Presley that has resulted in two Elvis Presley-focused projects for Netflix: Last year’s “Agent Elvis”, an animated series that reimagined the immortal pop star as a heroic crime fighter, and “Return of the King: The Fall and Rise of Elvis Presley”, which debuted last month. It’s a fascinating documentary about the seven-year stretch between Elvis’ return from the Army and his legendary December 1968 “comeback” special on NBC-TV—the event that launched the final (continuous touring) phase of his career that ended with his Aug. 16, 1977 death.
Currently, Eddie is working to launch another, non-Elvis, TV project. He didn’t want to elaborate on it publicly, but he did allow that it’s a sitcom based on the life of a country-music megastar who, in the manner of Jerry Seinfeld and Larry David, will portray a comedically heightened version of himself.
While he has enough TV-industry experience to know that nothing is ever a mortal lock—especially these days—Eddie is confident the parties being pitched will find it a “no-brainer” and the series will see the light of day.
For tickets, go to ticketmaster.com.
Carmine’s hits 20
Congrats and a tip of the rigatoni to Carmine’s Italian restaurant at The Quarter inside Tropicana Atlantic City which, yesterday, was scheduled to hold a ribbon-cutting ceremony to mark its 20th anniversary.
Over the past two decades, the eatery has established itself as one of AyCee’s most-popular dining destinations. It also stands as one of the longest-running culinary outposts of the legal-casino era.
Chuck Darrow has spent more than 40 years writing about Atlantic City casinos.
