THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, November 20, 1994 TAG: 9411180130
SECTION: PORTSMOUTH CURRENTS PAGE: 03 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: Rebecca Myers
LENGTH: Long : 140 lines
There's a little section
On the southside of town
While I was growing up
They called it the baddest place around
Sometimes I had to fight
But many times I would run
A little guy like me
You know it couldn't be no fun ...
Living in Newtown.
When George Thomas writes a song, chances are no one in town will have a problem catching on.
Well, at least not the folks who grew up with Thomas in the '40s and '50s.
Recently, Thomas, 55, recorded a song about growing up in Newtown, the neighborhood once located between Interstate 264 and the Norfolk Naval Shipyard, now the site of PortCentre Commerce Park.
In ``Living in Newtown,'' Thomas - a 1962 graduate of Wilson High School - talks of the people and places nearest and dearest to his heart:
I had a lot of respect
For some of the guys I knew
Butch Carto, Don Smith and Harry Brockwell, too
Once I got knocked down and I didn't know what to do
Harry was the one who came to my rescue . . .
When I was a kid, I got in a fight over at the park, the Wythe Street Park,'' recalled Thomas, who grew up ``on the tip end'' of Washington Street.
``And Harry Brockwell took the guy off of me. I was young and this guy was older and he was beating me up. Harry took him off of me, so I put that in the song.''
Growing up in Newtown was ``kinda rough,'' said Thomas. ``We were like the Bowery Boys, you know? The East End kids. That's the way it was over there. You'd always hang around a bunch of guys, and you'd learn how to take care of yourself.''
Brockwell, Thomas' savior, now lives in California. He's aware of the song, said Thomas, because a relative bought one of the tapes and sent it to him. Out of the 500 cassettes Thomas had made, 225 have been sold.
``People say, `I grew up in Newtown, I've got to buy that.' I take the tapes to the local clubs that I play at,'' said Thomas, who performs every Friday night at the Waterview Inn. The cassettes sell for $6 each and contain three of his original songs.
It took Thomas about six hours over the course of three weeks to write ``Living in Newtown.'' His most recent song, ``Kitty Sue, I Wanna Shag With You,'' was written in a mere hour.
``The one thing I knew about Kitty Sue was that she could really dance well, shag dance. I'd noticed her at the Holiday Inn in Portsmouth, at Madeline's,'' Thomas explained.
``Kitty Sue is a friend of mine. She was married to another guy who grew up in Newtown, Hank Hannah. One day I was in Nic's Too, and Kitty Sue and I were talking about writing a song about her. I went home that same day and started working on it. An hour later I went back, and I gave her a copy of it. Everybody who does shag dances around the area likes it,'' he said.
In the early '60s, Thomas formed a group with Richard ``Dickie'' Harrell, a drummer who played with a rock 'n' roll band called Gene Vincent's Blue Caps, famous in Europe in the late 1950s.
``We got to be well known because he (Harrell) was so famous, and when he started playing with me, everybody got to know us because he had been with a band that sold millions of records,'' said Thomas. ``They were on the Ed Sullivan Show, American Bandstand, and even made a movie with Jayne Mansfield. When he came with the group, we just got to be known better because of his drumming.''
A regular venue for the group back in the early '60s was the Portsmouth YMCA.
``We played at the YMCA Teenage Dances. And all the kids from Newtown would come over and listen to us play, so we got to know all the Newtown kids,'' said Thomas, who has often been told he sounds just like Elvis Presley.
About a year after graduating from Wilson, Thomas' family moved from their Washington Street home to Ahoy Acres. But Newtown was and always will be his first love.
``I think somebody should have written something about it because it's a section of town that everybody remembers,'' he said. ``A lot of things happened over there. Everybody wants to hear about Newtown. Every time I turn around, someone wants a copy of that song.''
Now just the other day
While out cruising around
I was so surprised at what I had found
Everything is gone now in that southside section
All the things I grew up to love with great affection
Living in Newtown, they called it the baddest place around,
Newtown
Now all that's left there are the trees
And a lot of old memories,
Living in Newtown . . .
Name: George L. Thomas
Nickname: Buddy Holly
Neighborhood: Portsmouth Gardens
Number of years in Portsmouth: All my life
Birthplace: Portsmouth
Occupation: Laid off from TCC Print Shop. Hope to be called back!
What other job than your own would you like? I would like to be successful with the songs that I've written. A record contract with a big company would be nice.
Marital status: Divorced after 12 1/2 years of marriage
Children: Angela and Tony
Grandchildren: Josh and Hunter
Fondest childhood memory: Playing football in the downtown courtyard with Johnny Joannou and J. W. Davis
First concert: Played every Friday and Saturday night for the YMCA Teen Dance during 1960-64
What song or book title best describes your life? ``My Way''
If you won the lottery, what's the very first thing you'd buy? A home for my mother
Biggest accomplishment: Graduating from TCC with an associate's degree in business administration
Most embarrassing moment: Having a wreck on a bicycle while trying to impress a girl
If you could change one thing about yourself, what would it be? I'd like to be taller. I'm 5 feet 7 inches tall.
Perfect way to spend the day: Practicing new songs on my guitar, singing
I can't resist: An old movie
Favorite Portsmouth restaurant: Michael's and Burger King
Favorite Portsmouth hangout: Burger King at High and Airline
Biggest problem facing Portsmouth: There are too many unoccupied buildings Downtown. We need more businesses that will bring more people Downtown.
If you had three wishes for Portsmouth, what would they be?
Downtown would come back to life
No crime or drug problems
More business
What do you like about living in Portsmouth? The memories that I have growing up here. And the nice people you meet who live here. ILLUSTRATION: Staff photo by MARK MITCHELL
KEYWORDS: PROFILE INTERVIEW
by CNB