Some timeless singers, including Pat Boone and Sonny Turner, are bringing back the hits of their youth.
“The Legends of the 50s & 60s Live in Concert” show, which is presented by Affordable Music Productions, is set for April 2 at Gardiner W. Spring Auditorium in Ontario. Besides Boone and Turner, Leon Hughes & his Coasters, Johnny Tillotson, Barbara Lewis and Little Peggy March are also slated to sing.
“This kind of concert will most certainly for most of the attendees be the last time they see all of us in person performing,” said Boone, 81. “I tell the audience, I’m sure I won’t be back again. Even though my recording engineer says my voice hasn’t changed. But even so, I won’t be doing it much longer.”
Tickets, which range from $49-$99, are still available, but Nathan Goethals of Affordable Music Productions cautions that they will only be available until 6-6:30 p.m. the day of the show.
Boone has a long list of No. 1 hits, from his first in 1955 with a cover of Fats Domino’s “Ain’t That a Shame” to 1961’s “Moody River” and others in between.
“I don’t have to sing one song that’s not a certified gold record,” Boone said.
Turner, who joined the legendary vocal group The Platters after lead singer Tony Williams left the group in 1959, was featured on later hits like 1966’s “I Love You 1,000 Times” and 1967’s “With This Ring” and “Washed Ashore.”
“I count myself blessed to the highest degree for having been a part of it,” Turner said.
Audiences can expect the performers to have enough stage time to sing their best-known songs, Goethals said.
“I want to give them enough time to perform their hits,” Goethals said. “People like Pat Boone and Sonny Turner have a long resume of hits.”
Turner, who is 76, said he believes the music will “outlive us all” because there is a story in each song.
“The lyrics are a story of love, unrequited love, marriage and about life itself,” Turner said. “The melodies and orchestration are just beautiful. I don’t think it will ever go away.”
For Turner, the proof that his music is timeless is that everyone from kids to grandparents tell him they enjoy the songs. He added when summer comes around, there’s a “nostalgic theme” that attracts people to the music, as well as television commercials that play songs like “I Love You 1,000 Times.”
“I love that,” Turner said.
Now three years cancer-free, Turner said he’s at “99 percent” for the show.
“I’m feeling good and praising God,” Turner said. “Let the church sing, ‘Amen.’”
Boone, who is one of the stars of the film “God’s Not Dead 2” set for release on April 1, said he still has memories of meeting another legendary star from the era, “The King of Rock and Roll” Elvis Presley.
“I saw him backstage,” Boone said of their first encounter in 1955 when they performed together in Cleveland. “He had two or three of his buddies with him. He always had an entourage. … Later on after we signed our contracts, we were neighbors in Bel Air. I said, ‘You acted pretty nervous when I saw you.’ He said, ‘I didn’t know how to talk to you, man. You were a star.’ That showed me he was really polite, like me, and pretty naive as far as entertainment was concerned. He was just a real beginner. We underestimated him. We didn’t realize he had as much talent as he did.”
Whether talking about the everlasting music of Presley, or that of Boone and Turner, it’s safe to say no one will underestimate their musical abilities again.
