Miscellaneous

Freedomland, USA

Nancy's Notes πŸ–ŠοΈπŸŽΆ
The layout of Freedomland; I’d forgotten it was in the shape of the US!

Back in 1960, before the first Six Flags opened in Texas, there was Freedomland USA …. a fantastic, 85-acre amusement park with rides, restaurants, attractions, shopping, etc. And one of the things that made this wonderland so amazing was the fact that it was about 20 minutes from my house in The Bronx, NY. We would sit on our front porch at night and watch the fireworks coming from Freedomland.

“What else was so special about the place?”, you ask; well, it was the music hall known as the Moon Bowl!

In an attempt to attract visitors of varying ages, the Moon Bowl featured swing bands from the 1940s and contemporary pop stars. There was a stage and a 15,000 square foot outdoor dance floor. Among the performers who entertained us (and who I saw) were the Count Basie Orchestra, Paul Anka, Bobby Darin, Connie Francis, Bobby Rydell, Chubby Checker and more.

A ticket to Freedomland; check out the price of admission!
Bobby Darin performing at the Moon Bowl

Somewhere in my attic I have many tickets and autographs tucked away with all my Beatles scrapbooks and R&R memorabilia. I was a very lucky girl who got to meet a lot of famous people! Unfortunately, Freedomland USA went belly up after just five seasons but I have memories that will last forever.

Today I am featuring one of the performers I saw at Freedomland, the place where I fell in love with him when I was 10 years old …. the one-and-only Bobby Darin, definitely tops on my list. He can bring me out of a lousy mood or help me chill when I’m feeling stressed out.

There aren’t enough adjectives to describe the incredible talents of Bobby Darin. He was the consummate performer, a one-man show who composed songs, conducted the orchestra, sang different genres of music, danced, played the drums, piano, harmonica and guitar, did impressions, acted in movies and dazzled us with his Sinatra-like charm, mannerisms and sense of humor. My fellow-New Yorker was born Walden Robert Cassotto on May 14, 1936. It was a time when ethnic-sounding names such as his were frowned-upon by music producers; they felt something more white bread Americana would help these performers with strange names go further in the biz so Walden Robert Cassotto became Bobby Darin.

Bobby was only 37 years old when he died .… recurring bouts of rheumatic fever as a child left him with a seriously weakened heart. Believing his time on earth was limited, he lived his life to the fullest, pushing himself to all he could. In 1973, after failing to take antibiotics to protect his heart before a dental visit, Bobby developed sepsis. On December 19, 1973, a four-person surgical team worked for over six hours to repair his damaged heart. In the early morning hours of December 20, Bobby Darin died in the recovery room without regaining consciousness. That day the entertainment world lost one of its brightest stars and my own heart broke a little.

Β β€œMack The Knife” is undoubtedly Bobby Darin’s most famous hit …. a cool, finger-snapping song about the notorious killer, thief and arsonist, Macheath (AKA Mac the Knife). The song was originally written in 1928 for the German dramatic play Die Dreigroschenoper (Threepenny Opera) and sounds totally different than Bobby Darin’s version.

Another one of Bobby’s hits is β€œBeyond The Sea”, a jazzed-up version of a romantic love song based on the classical piece called β€œLe Mer” by French composer, lyricist, singer and showman Charles Trenet. The 2004 movie Beyond The Sea was released starring Kevin Spacey in the role of Bobby Darin. In case you only Spacey for his dramatic roles and have never seen him in a musical role, you’re in for a treat. Spacey is a master of impersonations and sang all Bobby Darin’s songs himself. He became Bobby Darin and if you like dramatic biographies with a splash of nightclub routines, you’ll love this movie.

Anything else you want to know about Freedomland, USA or Bobby Darin you can Google or read in Wiki. I’m just so grateful I had a chance to spend my pre-teen years in a place like Freedomland where I got to see Bobby Darin up close and personal and got his autograph. People have asked me β€œWhy don’t you sell some of this stuff? You’ve got a treasure trove packed away.” Yeah, it’s a treasure trove and that’s exactly why I’ll be keeping it for as long as I live.

This is Bobby Darin performing his greatest hit, β€œMack The Knife” on the Ed Sullivan Show, May 31, 1959.

Now β€œBeyond The Sea”,  also from the same airing of the Ed Sullivan show.

In this video, several of the many talents of the fabulous Bobby Darin are put on display. Bobby sings, plays bluesy harmonica, boogies on piano and performs a blistering Gene Krupa style drum solo. Live on the David Frost Show, 1972 …. 18 months before his death.

I hope you enjoyed taking a walk with me down Memory Lane …. not just sharing my fond, girlhood memories of Freedomland but remembering the remarkable Bobby Darin.

See you on the flip side. 😎

NARΒ©2024

All text, graphics and videos are copyright for The Sicilian Storyteller, The Elephant’s Trunk and The Rhythm Section and is not for use by anyone without permission. NARΒ©2017-present.

42 thoughts on “Freedomland, USA”

  1. Pingback: Freedomland, USA - Scholarships and Admission News and Info

    1. My great pleasure, KK. He was such an amazing talent and a terrific guy, too. I’m thrilled to know you enjoyed this piece today.

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  13. We had Glen Echo Amusement Park near where I lived, but it was really just a large, permanent carnival type of place with lots of rides and food booths. Not on a scale of FreedomLand. It closed decades ago. We also had Carter Barron Amphitheater in Rock Creek Park that had live musical acts. I think it closed in 2017 but is supposedly undergoing renovations by the National Park Service. As far as I know, its reopening has not been announced yet.

    Bobby Darin β€” you said it all in your wonderful tribute to the man.

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    1. It was great having a terrific amusement park so close by and we had just gotten our first family car so it was a breeze to get there. And it only cost $1 to get in! Everything was covered for that fee except food and souvenirs. We still have Rye Playland which is very close and was built in 1928! The New York Rangers used the ice rink there for practice for many years. Now only college and minor league teams use it for practice. You can read about Playland here.

      Thanks for your comments about my tribute; it’s not hard when you have great material to work with.

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    2. I’m getting all choked up, Ivor. What a gorgeous song and a brilliant performance. Thank you, dear Ivor. 🩢

      He and Connie Francis were so in love with each other but her father was against it and thwarted the relationship. He even went so far as to bring a gun to the Jackie Gleason Show where they were performing together! The studio directors pushed Bobby and Sandra Dee together. I wonder if he was singing this song to Connie.

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      1. Definitely a wonderful love story, but Bobby died far too young, he had such a wonderful personality πŸ’•πŸ˜‰πŸŒ … β€œOnce Upon a Time” was our β€˜Theme Song’ sad but true ,,, πŸ’•πŸ˜

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