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Dick Wells and the Jim Perry Band draws huge crowd at Railroad Green free concert

| 11 Sep 2012 | 06:18
    All of the band arrangements were that of retired Sgt. Major Jim Perry (left), former group leader and lead alto saxophonist with the United States Military Academy Band Jazz Knights at West Point.
    All of the band arrangements were that of retired Sgt. Major Jim Perry (left), former group leader and lead alto saxophonist with the United States Military Academy Band Jazz Knights at West Point.
    Dick Wells and the Jim Perry Band draws huge crowd at Railroad Green free concert
    On Sunday afternoon, Sept. 9, Dick Wells and the Jim Perry Band drew a huge crowd for one of the last concerts of the 2012 free summer concert series at Railroad Green sponsored by the Village of Warwick. Although the bright sunlight was welcomed after stormy weather the previous day, at least half the people in the audience stationed themselves in the cooler shade across the street.
    On Sunday afternoon, Sept. 9, Dick Wells and the Jim Perry Band drew a huge crowd for one of the last concerts of the 2012 free summer concert series at Railroad Green sponsored by the Village of Warwick. Although the bright sunlight was welcomed after stormy weather the previous day, at least half the people in the audience stationed themselves in the cooler shade across the street.

WARWICK — On Sunday afternoon, Sept. 9, Dick Wells and the Jim Perry Band drew a huge crowd for one of the last concerts of the 2012 free summer concert series at Railroad Green sponsored by the Village of Warwick. And once again he received a standing ovation that lasted several minutes.
Although the bright sunlight was much welcomed after stormy weather the previous day, at least half the people in the audience stationed themselves in the cooler shade across the street.
The concert ran a little more than two hours during which Wells sang many old favorites including “Pennies from Heaven,” and “Let me try again,” which has become his theme song since his heart attack five years ago at the same concert.
Since the concert fell on the 10th anniversary of Railroad Green Village Park, it was dedicated to Ed Klein who played a key roll in preserving the site.

‘I’m Confessin’ that I Love you’

Mayor Michael Newhard explained that in the 1960s a proposal to turn the property into a parking lot was defeated when Klein, then publisher of the Warwick Advertiser, featured a front-page editorial in opposition to the plan. He then read the words that will appear on a plaque to be installed in the park to honor Klein.
Pip Klein, who was also invited to speak, told the audience how lucky she was that more than 50 years ago her parents, Ed and Phyllis Klein, decided to move from the New Jersey shore to “this wonderful community.”
In a sentimental moment, Wells sang “My Heart Stood Still,” the song, he said, that reminded him of the first time he saw his wife, Diane. And later he sang “I’m Confessin’ that I Love You,” a song Ed Klein played for his wife to be because he was too shy to propose.
All of the band arrangements were that of retired Sgt. Major Jim Perry, former group leader and lead alto saxophonist with the United States Military Academy Band Jazz Knights at West Point. Many of the musicians with the Jim Perry Band are veteran performers who had appeared with famous band leaders and entertainers like Benny Goodman, Gene Krupa, Lionel Hampton, Bob Crosby and Paul Simon.

One last concert

A rescheduled and final concert of the season, “Reflections, an Evening of Grateful Dead Music,” will take place on Friday evening, Sept. 21, at 7 p.m.