OGCMA Presents Felix Cavaliere's Rascals And The Stephen Bishop Band

For decades, The Ocean Grove Camp Meeting Association (OGCMA) has presented family entertainment featuring old favorites in many popular genres, tribute bands and more. This 150th anniversary season is no different, as demonstrated by the presentation of two classic rock legends, Felix Cavaliere'S RASCALS and THE Stephen Bishop BAND - a two-for-one rockin' night on Friday, July 19th at 7:30pm in The Great Auditorium. Reserved tickets are $65-$25; general admission (purchased at the door) is $20. The Great Auditorium is located at Pilgrim and Ocean Pathways in Ocean Grove, New Jersey. All facilities are handicapped accessible. Get tickets by phone at 732-775-0035, ext. 112, or online at oceangrove.org.

Cavaliere's message has always been about peace, love, and happiness. For this legendary singer/ songwriter, making people feel good has been the hallmark of his illustrious 50-year career. His talent and innovation have brought him into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, Songwriter Hall of Fame, Vocal Group Hall of Fame, and Grammy Hall of Fame. Few artists can claim they defined a generation; Felix Cavaliere continues to remind us to keep listening for the world's beauty.

A classically trained pianist born in Pelham, New York, Cavaliere idolized Ray Charles, Marvin Gaye, and Sam Cook. Early on, he embraced the Hammond Organ and pioneered a fresh, rock and roll sound. He left Syracuse University to form The Escorts and also became a backup musician for Joe Dee, The Starliters and Sandy Scott. In 1965, Cavaliere formed The Young Rascals with Dino Danelli, Eddie Brigati and Gene Cornish, and caught the attention of promoter/manager Sid Bernstein with a high-energy performance at a Long Island nightclub. They were signed to Atlantic Records as The Rascals and began putting out a list of mega hits, including "Good Lovin," "I've Been Lonely Too Long," "Groovin'," "How Can I Be Sure," "A Girl Like You," "A Beautiful Morning" and "People Got to Be Free" - several of which made it to No.1 on the charts and all of them in the Top Ten. The Rascals were considered the best 'blue-eyed soul' group to come out of the 1960s, as well as one of the groups with the most record sales.

By the early 70s, The Rascals experimented with more jazz-influenced sounds and moved to Columbia Records. The group disbanded in 1972 but Cavaliere's solo career thrived during this decade. He released a self-titled debut album produced by Todd Rundgren and followed up with the albums Destiny (1974), Castles in the Air (1979) (which offered the Top 40 hit "Only a Heart Sees"), Dreams in Motion (1994) and in 2008 he collaborated with Stax guitar legend, Steve Cropper, on the Grammy-nominated Nudge it Up a Notch and again in 2010 with Midnight Flyer.

Cavaliere is now based in Nashville where he constantly collaborates with many of the city's other musical notables, as well as writing new material. He is working on his memoir and has an active touring schedule with his newest band, Felix Cavaliere's Rascals. Cavaliere's Ocean Grove show will feature songs from every stage of his career.

Stephen Bishop is a world-class guitarist, vocalist and songwriter with a celebrated career of over four decades of live performance, song craftsmanship, recording and entertainment. He has released 17 albums and has played his songs personally for Barbra Streisand, Diana Ross, Bette Midler, Melissa Manchester, and Katy Perry. His newest album, Blueprint was released in 2016. In Eric Clapton's autobiography, he mentions Stephen Bishop as one of his favorite songwriters.

A San Diego native, Bishop's introduction to the music industry came at the age of 13 after seeing The Beatles perform on The Ed Sullivan Show. His brother Denny bought him an electric guitar, which inspired Bishop to take his poetry and convert it into songs. He began creating his own unique chords, melodies and writing original songs. His first was "Surf's Turf," an instrumental. Less than a year after learning the guitar, he formed a band, The Weeds, and they began performing at local venues, playing a mixture of original songs and popular hits of the day. The Weeds placed second at the Claremont Battle of the Bands in 1966.

After The Weeds disbanded, Bishop went to LA hoping to land a songwriting contract and walked the streets of LA in the early 1970's with nothing more than a $12 guitar. He began playing songs for different publishers and landed a deal with Edwin H. Morris Publishing in Hollywood ($50 per week). But only one of his songs was recorded and he considered leaving LA to work for his father's insurance company in San Diego. But a friend connected him with Art Garfunkel, who recorded two of Bishop's songs on his album, Breakaway.

Shortly thereafter, Bishop was signed to ABC Records and released his first album, Careless, which had two popular hits, "On and On" and "Save It For a Rainy Day." Careless and his second album, Bish, both went Gold. His hit song "It Might Be You" was the theme for the film Tootsie and he has written themes for other films, including Animal House, The Money Pit and White Nights. Most impressively, Bishop's songs have been performed and/or recorded by Phil Collins, Eric Clapton, Barbra Streisand, Steve Perry, Stephanie Mills, Kenny Loggins, Johnny Mathis, Phoebe Snow, David Crosby, The Four Tops, Aswad, Beyoncé and even Luciano Pavarotti. Bishop was nominated for two Grammys and garnered an Oscar nomination for his song "Separate Lives." Just for fun, Bishop appeared as the Charming Guitar Player in Animal House. In the toga party scene, John Belushi slams his guitar to smithereens. He still has it.

Bishop's Ocean Grove concert will feature many of these hits - and a few musical surprises.

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