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Groovin’ on a Sunday afternoon, Felix Cavaliere sat down with us for a phone interview from Nashville.
The legendary singer songwriter is a co-founder, co-lead vocalist, and keyboard player for The Rascals, considered the best ‘blue-eyed soul’ group to come out of the 1960s. Cavaliere and a fellow Rascals’ co-founder, guitarist, and producer, Gene Cornish, are together again for The Rascals’ 60th Anniversary Tour. The tour stops at the Keswick Theatre in Glenside, Pa., on April 18.
The interview has been edited for length and clarity.
You were trained by your mom in classical piano and founded a doo-wop group while in college. What inspired you to be a musician and start a band?
My mom, rest her soul, wanted me to take piano. At 5 years old, she enrolled me in a school in New York, where I took three lessons a week for eight years. It was a really sophisticated classical education. I continued until she passed away when I was in junior high.
A junior high school friend turned me on to what they called rock ‘n’ roll which I had never heard. I became enamored with what I was hearing because what I was hearing was the same instrument that I was trained on but played in a manner that I had never, never heard. Fats Domino, Jerry Lee Lewis, Ray Charles. They were all piano players, keyboard players, Little Richard, but I didn’t know anything about that, and it just overwhelmed me, and I just fell in love with it. I said I gotta learn how to do this. And I gotta learn how to feel this. And so little by little. I was part of a band in high school. You know in those days, we used to play for proms, weddings, and things like that, so you got a good, sophisticated learning of all different genres of music. When I went off to Syracuse for pre-med, I started a band up there.
I had no idea I was going to be a musician. I truly had no idea.
In my junior year, the band got a job in the Catskill Mountains for a summer. I went there and I just had a blast. I just really enjoyed it. We were the house band, so to speak. You know we played for the kids, we played for the fashion shows, we played in the lounge, and every week they brought in a headliner. One week they brought in a group known as Joey Dee and the Starliters. They had a big hit called “Peppermint Twist.”
At the end of the summer, the Starliters needed an organ player. They called up and asked me if I wanted to join them on their European tour. I asked my dad, and he said it sounded exciting so give it a try. I left school and I flew to Germany. On the first night, we’re in a Frankfurt club and there’s this group called The Beatles opening up for Joey Dee. Everyone was hysterically screaming, and I looked at it from a musician’s point of view and thought I could do that. It looks like fun. I want to try it.
Can you tell us a little bit about how you connected with Gene Cornish and other band members – how you became The Rascals?
I took a job in a club in New York City that Joey Dee owned and there was a band there with Gene Cornish, myself, Eddie Brigati, who was David’s (who sang with Joey Dee) brother, and a drummer. I said to the guys I was with, why don’t we start a band? Why don’t we do this on our own? Why should we back up other people? Let’s do our own thing. And you know, everything kind of fell in place. The drummer didn’t want to come but through a lady that I was seeing, I met this phenomenal, phenomenal drummer named Dino Danelli and that’s how it started.
The Rascals have so many honors – No. 1 hits, gold records. You’ve been inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, Musicians Hall of Fame, Grammy Hall of Fame, Songwriters Hall of Fame, I could go on. Of all your accomplishments with the Rascals, what are you most proud of?
Of all the things you mentioned, the Songwriters Hall of Fame is one I’m really proud of because it’s kind of an elite group, you know. The Songwriters Hall of Fame has no museum, it’s not televised, it’s a private honor. The people who are in it are legendary. I mean, you’re talking about the best of all time. And so, I’m really proud to be a member of that group. That one really satisfies my soul.
You and Gene Cornish are collaborating for a 60th anniversary tour. How does it feel to be celebrating 60 years of The Rascals? Believe it or not. Long time.
Did you think at the time when you were starting out that you’d still be playing and delighting audiences for this many years?
I had no idea. I really had no idea. The whole thing happened so quickly and unfortunately the original group ended quite quickly also. We were only together for approximately five or six years in those 60. You don’t know what’s going to happen. I look back with really fond memories of those days.
Today you have a tremendous amount of selection. All over the world, you can hear music, anywhere you want, but in our day, there were not that many radio stations, there were not that many television stations where you could hear music, so it was kind of like trying to find some camaraderie. And that’s what we feel when we work.
Tell us about growing up Italian. What region of Italy is your family from and when did they come to the U.S.?
Well, my name is Felix, and my dad’s name is Felix, and my grandfather’s name was Felix, and the reason is, there was a St. Felix that was born near Naples. I’m Neapolitan, Naples blood. My mom was Sicilian, so I’ve got a mix.
My grandfather came here from Italy. My grandmother, I think she was born here. We’ve heard her parents came from Italy.
I’m sure you’ve been to Italy, right?
Yeah, yeah, of course. I’m so proud of the Italian heritage. Once you go over there and you see the art, the mathematics, the architecture, and the history – the Michelangelo, Leonardo da Vinci, and the tremendous amount of opera people, it makes you proud. And you should be. That’s how I look at it. You should be proud of wherever you’re from.
Some of the other band members are also of Italian descent. Do you think that created a special bond between all of you?
I don’t really know if that’s the case, a bond. Gene was the only one who was not Italian, so we prayed for him ‘cause he really didn’t have a chance. We all came from different backgrounds; different parents, some religious, some not religious; we didn’t have an ongoing presence of that.
Audiences adopted us, especially coming from the East Coast, they were really proud that there were Italians in a band who were offsetting the invasion from England of The Beatles, The Stones, and The Kinks. Three guys from the East Coast. They always made us feel special. We’d go to Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Philadelphia, we were welcomed, and I still feel that. It’s great, man, seriously, if you talk to people who are Italian, they let you know, ‘Hey, man, you guys meant a lot to us.’ I had one guy tell me one time, he said, ‘Hey, you Rascals, you made it okay for Italians to have long hair.’
What is your favorite Italian dish?
I never learned to cook. I was so spoiled. Everybody was just so good. You know, I got a beautiful wife here that even though she’s not Italian, she really can do it. Down in Tennessee, it’s a little different here for Italians. It’s not as easily acquired as on the East Coast. There’s nothing like New York, Philly, I say to people, and they say, ‘oh, this is what you were talking about.’ Yeah, that’s what I’m talking about. We have a little group of Italians down here, most of us are musicians or in the business. Basically, a lot of the men cook, so we get together every couple of months, everybody bringing their favorite dish they know how to make, and we keep it alive. There’s this kind of pride in the fact that we are what we are. I really think that’s very important. I’ve been involved with Italian American associations all over the country. In Milwaukee I was Italian American Man of the Year in their association, down in New Orleans they have one, and I guess you have one out there where you are, so when they call me and ask me to be part of it, I’m there. My dad would be so proud.
What Italian traditions do you celebrate with your family?
We try to keep the kids into the holidays – Easter holiday, Christmas holiday.
My sister, who has moved down South, keeps all the holidays. They keep the traditions, not just the American Thanksgiving, but they keep the Italian ones going. The religious ones as well. It’s kind of hard for me ‘cause I don’t have that kind of family unit down here but she does.
I guess it’s hard when you’re touring and on the road?
We tried in the old days to keep traditions with the families of The Rascals – you know the Easter celebrations and the meals. As a matter of fact, what we used to do, you know The Rascals were very big in Hawaii. We had a tremendous following in Hawaii for a number of reasons so when we went there, we always brought one of our relatives that could cook. They rented us a house out there, it was like heaven on earth, and we stayed, we did our shows, we stayed all together, and there was always one special lady who would cook a big Sunday meal for us. It was so much fun. As a result, we were able to bring almost everybody in our family there at least once to Hawaii. It was a special time. We call it Ohana, which is la famiglia. That’s what that means, the family. That’s our tradition.
What comes next after the tour? I know you have a book out. Are you working on any new music?
I did an album during COVID called “Then and Now,” and I’ve got a couple of collaborations that I’m doing right here in Tennessee. I like to keep busy. During this last month, I ran into this young kid who’s like 9-10 years old. Very talented. So, my manager said let’s develop this kid. I said all right, OK, let’s go. He’s good, he’s good, he’s really talented. He’s way ahead of the curve. That’ll be one of the things on the plate. You know I live in Nashville, which is really Music City. This is a place where a lot of people are either musicians or wannabe musicians. It’s a healthy place for music, so I’m gonna continue going as long as I can.
For tickets to the April 18th show, visit https://www.axs.com/events/823510/the-rascals-tickets?skin=keswick&src=AEGLIVE_WROAKDTT030115VEN001.
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