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Corky Hale Remembers The Cocoanut Grove |
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October, 2005 - The fabled Ambassador Hotel, which housed the famous Cocoanut Grove nightclub, was demolished to make way for a new Los Angeles City Public School complex. The Los Angeles Conservancy put up a good fight to preserve this historic cultural landmark but, in the end, lost the battle. Portions of the nightclub will be utilized in the new design but, for all intents and purposes, it will be no more. To help preserve the history of the legendary nightspot, we asked our members who might've performed or attended shows there to share their thoughts and memories. Below is Corky Hale's contribution. --D.A. I am a member of the Los Angeles Conservancy, and I fought with them until the end to save the Ambassador Hotel. Almost the first job I got when I arrived in L.A. from a small Midwestern town in the 1950's was as harpist with the Cocoanut Grove Orchestra. Shortly thereafter, they heard me play piano, and I was then added as the intermission pianist. I also wound up playing flute on the Latin numbers. Later they asked me if I could sing, and the next thing I knew I was the vocalist with the Cocoanut Grove Orchestra! Every week on national radio, you heard the following: "And now, from the glamorous Cocoanut Grove in Hollywood California, it's the music of the Eddie Bergman Orchestra with vocals by the lovely Corky Hale." (Freddie Martin had just quit and Eddie was brought in to replace him. My name was Hecht, but Corky Hecht certainly didn't sound very glamorous on a national hookup.) Can you imagine how exciting it was for a small town girl to look down from the stage every night and see Lana Turner, Esther Williams, Tyrone Power, Robert Taylor, Linda Darnell, and other famous stars? Added to that, every week the Cocoanut Grove booked a big act, and I got to accompany legends like Lena Horne, Peggy Lee, Sinatra, Martin & Lewis, and many others. Once a week the Grove had a Grecian night, with a beautiful buffet. Above is a photo of me (on the right) at the Grove decked out in my Grecian toga just before I was hired by Liberace, who made me into a platinum blonde. Read more about CORKY HALE at www.citycabaret.com/corkyhale
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