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| Vol. 16, No. 36 | July 10, 1997 |
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| Vol. 16, No. 36 | July 10, 1997 |
Jerry Elderly, aka English Prof. Jerry Beasley, and his band, The Juveniles, are rockin' 'n' rollin' around the region this summer, from private parties to public parks and having a blast.
"We have fun performing, and the audience enters into the spirit of the music. Sometimes, women even turn up dressed in their bobby sox and crinolines for the occasion," he said.
"Rock 'n' roll is the music I grew up with, and I have always been a fan. The postwar years of the '50s and '60s were an extraordinary period of creativity. It was the first generation of a separate teenage culture, and the music has the ring of authenticity, reflecting youth and life, which audiences respond to," Beasley said. "Many of the performers and composers were teenagers themselves, and there is a simplicity and sincerity in rock 'n' roll that still comes through today."
The band has an extensive repertoire of more than 100 songs by such '50s and '60s artists as Elvis Presley, Ricky Nelson, Ray Charles, Paul Anka and the Everly Brothers.
Although everyone in the band has a musical background and musical experience, Vic England, who plays the keyboard and is an accomplished organist and piano teacher and tuner, is the only full-time professional musician.
"We all have 'daytime jobs,'" Beasley commented. Musical director Steve Branigan, electric/acoustic guitar, is a pilot and production planner for Print Pak; George Christie, electric/acoustic guitar, is a computer systems analyst with the Medical Center of Delaware; Gary Heller, drums, is superintendent of buildings and grounds for Delaware Techical and Community College in Wilmington; and John Manley, electric/acoustic bass, is an HVAC technician with the DuPont Co.
In addition to playing instruments, band members are versatile vocalists and can sing leads or provide harmonies, with the exception of Heller, "but we're working on him," Beasley said.
Although teaching is his true vocation, music has been an important part of Beasley's life. As an undergraduate at Peabody College in Nashville, he put himself through school as a studio singer, as vocalist with musical groups and as a performer in musical theatre.
Later in life, he learned to play the acoustic guitar when a friend handed one to him and gave him some lessons to start him on his way. "It was the realization of a dream," Beasley recalled.
After a stint of teaching junior and senior high school, Beasley returned to graduate school and received his master's degree from the University of Kansas and his doctorate from Northwestern University. He joined the UD faculty in 1969. His research field is the 18th-century British novel. Beasley became one of the singing Elderly Brothers when he teamed up with the late Thomas Calhoun, also a UD English professor, in 1977.
"The English department used to have annual songfests (they are reviving them this fall) with funny songs and parodies. Tom and I got together after singing in these and began performing together on a casual basis. After hearing us, a student jokingly called us the Elderly Brothers, after the Everly Brothers, and the name stuck," Beasley recalled.
"Tom and I were as close as brothers, and in fact, the night before he died we were working on new songs. His death left a hole in my life, and it was a long while before I could think about restarting the band," Beasley recalled. "Steve Brannigan and Gary Heller, who were with us originally when we performed, encouraged me to start the band again. We've been fortunate to find extremely talented musicians to join the group," Beasley said. Occasionally, Beasley, who studies voice with Marie Robinson in the music department, forsakes rock 'n' roll for opera and has appeared in the chorus of such OperaDelaware productions as Aida and Tosca.
But then he returns to his other persona and takes to the stage as Jerry Elderly, bringing to life the forever young music of his rock 'n' roll generation.
| --Sue Swyers Moncure |
If you're out and about this summer and early fall, here are some scheduled appearances of Jerry Elderly and the Juveniles:
