A RHAPSODY IN 10 BLUE SELTZER BOTTLES IN A OLD SELTZER BOX

Description

THERE'S ALWAYS A STORY BEYOND THE STORY IF YOU CHOSE TO LOOK. TODAY I WENT TO A RATHER ORDINARY, BUT QUAINT UPPER WEST SIDE OF MANHATTAN BUILDING LOCATED AT 501 W.110ST. ACROSS THE STREET IS A MASSIVE CATHEDRAL KNOW AS ST JOHN THE DIVINE WHICH IS MAGNIFICENT AND VERY HISTORIC,  BUT IN THIS BUILDING THREE FLOORS BEFORE WHERE I WENT,  IN 1924 IN THEIR PARENTS  APARTMENT, GEORGE GERSHWIN WITH HIS BROTHER IRA'S HELP COMPOSED THEIR HAUNTING SONG A  "
RHAPSODY IN BLUE".
IN HONOR OF THIS MASTERPIECE I AM OFFERING A CASE OF TEN BLUE SELTZER BOTTLES IN A OLD WOODEN SELTZER CRATE, THAT MAY NEVER BE AS FAMOUS AS THE MUSIC COMPOSED A FEW WEEK AWAY, BUT IS IN ITS OWN RIGHT, IT IS A MAGNIFICENT OBJECT OF BEAUTY,
THE BOTTLES WILL SPEAK FOR THEMSELVES, SO I'M  DONE WRITING, BUT SINCE THIS AUCTION IS FAR TOO SMALL, I'LL ADD ONE OF MY OTHER STORIES, FORMERLY PRINTED IN A MAGAZINE, THAT TELLS ABOUT MY EXPERIENCES WITH MUSIC MEN.
MUSIC MEN
On Sunday May 15, 1968 The Ed Sullivan Show honored one of the most prolific American composers of all time, Irving Berlin, who had  just celebrated his 80th birthday 4 days earlier.Due to the incredible good fortune of having a best friend whose father worked for this staple of wholesome weekly entertainment, unlike most Sunday evenings  when my family gathered around our black and white 1952 DuMount  tv set in our living room to view this "Really Big Shoe", I got to enjoy this remarkable experience in person, in glorious color.
It was one of the most turbulent moments in American history. Sandwiched in between the unthinkably sad assassinations of two revered leaders, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. one month before and Robert F. Kennedy one month later,  my friend Scott  and I were peacefully seated in the first few rows, as this larger than life musical legend performed.
The Viet Nam War had torn a hole in  the American fabric and seemed to be ripping it apart. Anti-war rallies with draft card and flag burning incidents were an unfortunate part of the news almost daily. The  saddest part were when some  brave soldiers I knew, who had returned home from the war,   were mistreated, as frustrations with the war were unfairly transferred to these gallant Americans. It was a far cry from the era of WWII when they were honored for their service.
But it was also a time when three humans in Apollo 8 orbited the moon for the first  time, giving mankind a perspective of how trivial most earthly  things were in the scheme of things.. And  it was an extraordinary moment for me, like in an earlier era when Kate Smith emboldened and comforted others during the  troubled times of  World War II  as she sang Irving Berlin's inspiring song "God Bless America", but slightly  different now in that it was the composer himself who was singing that triumphant and hope-filled song, and in that one fantastic moment we all had that collective feeling that we  once again would be a unified and a great nation ---and that's  the power of music and song-transporting us from where we are, to a place and state of mind we would hope to be.
It was around that time that I first heard another song that really moved me in another way. It lasted seven minutes and 21 seconds which was far longer than traditional radio disc jockeys would generally  play, but something about that song resonated in my mind then as it still does to this day.This song, "MacArthur Park", written by another one of America's more accomplished  composers, Jimmy Webb, and sung by Richard Harris,  is  a masterpiece of music and lyric that went to number 2 then, and  on   to number 1 in a disco version sung  by Donna Summer a decade later in 1978.
It was the era of the "British Invasion", and owing to the fact that Richard Harris had sung it, I was under the impression that this was one of the myriad British imports of that fabulous period, till I investigated a bit more about Jimmy Webb, in the days before instananeous info via the internet, and found out he was really an American songwriter.
In fact Jimmy Webb was an Oklahoma- born son of a preacher which seemed to go completely against the image of him that I had conjured up in my mind- someone whose career was, and is so versatile, that everything about him defies any preconceived notion that I may have had.
The year before he had written the soaring and uplifting songs made famous by "The Fifth Dimension" called "Up, Up and Away", (In my beautiful balloon), and the iconic Glen Campbell standard "By the Time I get To Phoenix".  In 1968 he further added to Glen Campbell's classic's with "Wichita Lineman". And in the same year, in an entirely different direction he created  a hauntingly beautiful song by the Brooklyn Bridge entitled "The Worst That Could Happen".
His music has  tugged at my heart strings and transported me to a destination seldom reached. While some lyrics may
have embodied romantic frustration and unfulfilled desire, others  were
filled with anticipation of, or recognition of something wonderful . The glue that  held everything together are the complex  musical arrangements,that  are brillantly conceived with a masterful utilization of orchestration that is  both poignant and evocative.Sung by some of the most accomplished artisans for decades , they've become industry standards, performed by the likes of Frank Sinatra, Barbra Steisand,Glen Campbell, Linda Ronstadt, Art Garfunkel, Donna Summer and an endless list of others of equal talent.
I had always hoped one day to meet this musical genius. Serendiptiously I had found out that Jimmy Webb had authored a memoir called "The Cake And The Rain", describing his early years and life from 1955 to 1970, and was traveling around the country performing some of his songs and doing book signings.
On Wednesday April 13, 2017, he was scheduled to appear at 7PM at
The Book Revue
in Huntington, which is a cozy venue in a  buccolic town on the North Shore  of Long Island. That's the same location where I and my family went to last year to see Buzz Aldrin who also  had written a book. For the price of a book that you'd probably want to buy anyway it gives anyone who's interested an opportunity to meet and greet people you've always wanted to see.
As with Buzz Aldrin who could see the world from a lofty perpective, it was once again a pleasure to see some one who could peer in to humanity with a unique insight. For both had battled their personal demons,  and had finally achieved peace within.
As illustrated in Jimmy Webb's book,The Cake And The Rain", Jimmy's life morphed from being a teenager living the humble life of a preacher's son in rural Oklahoma driving a tractor, to by the time he was 25 to a life of fast cars,fast women, drugs and more money than he could have dreamed of-living life in the super fast lane.It's a life that  often results in  burn out ,for many,  but Jimmy Webb has survived, sobered up a bit,  and continues to be as productive as ever.
In recent years he's been working with Glen Campbell, who was diagnosed with Alzheimer's in 2011, but had been performing many of Jimmy's classics with his three children participating, and helping their father keep track,  when confused.He was such a total professional and seasoned studio musician that he could still manage to produce miraculous music for many years. Unfortunately Glen Campbell's condition has deteriorated and he now resides in the "Nashville Memory Care Facility."In honor of his friend Jimmy spearheaded a fundraiser for Alheimer's Disease at Carnegie Hall in Manhattan in May, hosted by Michael Douglas and his wife Catherine Zeta Jones, with an array of music's most important singers.
Twelve years ago I had the opportunity to provide seltzer and cases of chocolate syrup when "Cousin Brucie(Morrow)" came on board with Sirius Radio in Manhattan. They were making "egg creams" which is a famous old New York drink, and Cousin Brucie, who I used to listen to in the 1960's on my 9 volt transistor radio glued to my ear, made egg creams for a huge party consisting of lots of people like Martha Stewart and Larry King and many of country and western performers who were in town for the "Country Music Awards". I had the pleasure to meet and talk to Glen Campbell and give him a  little of "Old New York" in  a glass. He was a real gentleman and I wish him well.
Music has a way of conjuring up fond memories of people and moments long gone. In the summer of 1972 while on college break, on a ferry boat in the seductive Mediterranean Sea, off the coast of Spain, drinking Sangria with hundreds of young people enjoying the warm night and balmy breezes, with a full moon above, and the Island of Ibiza in the distance, the speakers above played a song "The Wanderer" made famous by Dion and The Belmonts, a decade or so before in America, then a distant memory at the moment. Many years later, thousands of miles away, I got a customer in the Riverdale Section of the Bronx  named Ernie Maresca..He bought seltzer for his apartment and also for his mother who lived in another building. We became very good friends. You never knew who would call him when I delivered there, but many were very famous  people. One day Ernie invited me to join him and his girlfriend in Atlantic City where Frank Sinatra was performing and he introduced me to him.When he moved to Florida we lost touch. Last year one of my customers, Jerry Zachs, started to direct a Broadway show based on The Bronx and the Belmont area, so I goggled Ernie and was really upset to read he had died the year before. The next day I played  his song "The Wanderer" once again and thought about how carefree I was in the summer of 1972-and that's  the power of music.
Irving Berlin would live to the wonderful age of 101,garnering accolades and awards, and the profound appreciation and recognition of millions.
Ernie would leave behind, aside from the gold records displayed proudly in his living room, the knowledge that his life's work had made many very happy, including this teenager on a balmy tropical night in the middle of The Mediterranean Sea.
Jimmy Webb's body of work is beyond amazing and continues.The volume of music he has  created is extraordinary,and is reflected in the abundance of awards and honors bestowed upon this music genius.
All these music men will never be forgotten, because music is eternal.As it was written at his passing when Irving Berlin went to "music heaven"  at 101, "(His) Music will last not just for an hour, nor just for a day, nor just a year, but always."
THESE BOTTLES ARE MEANT FOR DISPLAY.
ALL AUCTIONS BELONG TO MY WIFE SELTZERLADY.
I STILL DELIVER THE SELTZER AND WILL NEVER SELL ANY OF MY BOTTLES IF YOU SEE ME AROUND, BUT WILL TALK TO ALMOST ANYONE ABOUT THEM.
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THESE ARE IN FABULOUS CONDITION CONSIDERING THEIR AGE AND THAT THEY'VE BEEN USED FOR GENERATIONS. WHEN YOU DELIVER THESE BOTTLES IN WOODEN CASES OF TEN WEIGHING 70 POUNDS THEY DO GET HANDLED ROUGHLY.
AND THEY DO SHOW THEIR SIGNS OF AGE BUT THAT ONLY ADDS TO THEIR AUTHENTICITY AND DESIRABILITY..
THESE BOTTLES HAVE BEEN CLEANED THOUUGHLY BY MY WIFE AND THESE ARE HER AUCTIONS.
THEY ARE MEANT FOR DISPLAY AND DECORATION..
THESE ARE VINTAGE COLLECTIBLES AND WERE IN USE TILL RECENTLY..THEY ALL HAVE A LONG AND MAGNIFIENT HISTORY OF PLEASING MANY FOR GENERATIONS. THEY ARE TIME-WORN WHICH ONLY ADDS TO THEIR AUTHENTICITY AND SENSE OF CONTINUITY WITH THE PAST FOR THOSE WHO LOOK FOR THINGS THAT ARE MEANT TO BE USED FOR A MOMENT THEN DISPOSED OF JUST AS QUICKLY.
THESE BOTTLES ARE FOR DISPLAY ONLY.
THIS IS AN OLD AUCTION. THE BOTTLES OFFERED TODAY AR PRETTY MUCH IDENTICAL TO THE ONES PICTURED. SINCE I WOULD HAVE TO PUT ANOTHER TOP ON EACH YOU MAY REQUEST A TOP. I HAVE THOUSANDS TO CHOSE FROM . IF NOT I CAN PUT A NICE ONE ON EACH...
THANK YOU.
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