Bill Allred said that Bob Snow told him, “to put together the most fantastic super-duper Dixieland Band this area has ever seen or heard.”
If you could listen to these record albums, you’d agree that he did just that!
Rosie O’Grady’s Good Time Jazz Band has performed around the country and around the world since it’s inception in 1974.
Band members changed through the years as some moved on to bigger and better things, but the music was always fantastic!
In my humble opinion, Bill Allred, Kent Abreo, Boyd Bergeson, Dave Gannett, Don Lord, Jim Maihack, Randy Morris, Warren Sauers were the best iteration of Rosie O’Grady’s Good Time Jazz Band. They were absolutely amazing!
Listen to the Waiter’s Welcome written by Bill Allred. Permission granted for use.
Rosie O’Grady’s Good Time Jazz Band and Red Hot Mama Miss Ruth Crews recorded a number of albums at local recording studios including BeeJays Recording Studio on Eggleston near the intersection of Edgewater and Lee Road.
Not only were these great records, but they were phenomenal marketing and advertising pieces. Folks from around the globe visited Church Street Station and took the music back home, encouraging others to come visit and go see the band when they toured Europe.
Don Lord, an original members of the band (seen above on far right holding cornet) , and his wife were celebrated at a Rosie O’Grady reunion and Holly and Dolly’s in Casselberry on April 4, 2004. Photos from the event are under Attachments below.
Peruse the images, audio files, documents and link to Church Street Station marketing video under attachments below.
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Rosie O'Grady's Good Time Jazz Band
Black and white publicity photo of Rosie O'Grady's entertainers gathered on the staircase on the first floor behind the bandstand leading to...
Rosie O'Grady's Red Hot Mama Miss Ruth Crews
Black and white publicity still of Rosie O'Grady's Good Time Emporium's Red Hot Mama Miss Ruth Crews in one of her more tame...
Church Street Station - Rosie O'Grady's Good Time Gang
Black and white publicity photo of all the performers and staff of Church Street Station crammed into Rosie O'Grady's first floor. You...
Rosie O'Grady's Good Time Jazz Band - Dixie Direct - Cover
Recorded in 1977, Dixie-Direct featuring Rosie O'Grady's Good Time Jazz Band is a Direct Disk recording. The mic setup for the recording...
Rosie O'Grady's Good Time Jazz Band - Dixie Direct - Back
Recorded in 1977, Dixie-Direct featuring Rosie O'Grady's Good Time Jazz Band is a Direct Disk recording. The mic setup for the recording...
Rosie O'Grady's Good Time Jazz Band - Dixie Direct - Inside
Recorded in 1977, Dixie-Direct featuring Rosie O'Grady's Good Time Jazz Band is a Direct Disk recording. The mic setup for the recording...
Rosie O'Grady's Good Time Jazz Band - Portrait of a Jazz Band - Cover
I can't remember when I purchased this album, but I do remember when I asked the band members to autograph it for...
Rosie O'Grady's Good Time Jazz Band - Portrait of a Jazz Band - back cover
This is the back cover of the Portrait of a Jazz Band album containing the liner notes, song titles and a note...
Rosie O'Grady's Good Time Jazz Band - Tens Years of Goodtime Jazz - Cover
This album was produced to celebrate the 10th anniversary of the opening of Rosie O'Grady's Good Time Emporium and formation of the...
Rosie O'Grady's Good Time Jazz Band - 10 Years of Goodtime Jazz - Back
This album was produced to celebrate the 10th anniversary of the opening of Rosie O'Grady's Good Time Emporium and formation of the...
Sights and Sounds of Church Street Station - Front Cover
This very special album was recorded live at Church Street Station as the "visitors" traveled from one show room to the next,...
Sights and Sounds of Church Street Station - Center fold
This very special album was recorded live at Church Street Station as the "visitors" traveled from one show room to the next,...
Sights and Sounds of Church Street Station - Back Cover
This very special album was recorded live at Church Street Station as the "visitors" traveled from one show room to the next,...
Rosie O'Grady's Good Time Band
This is one of my favorite T-shirts because of the caricatures of the band members of Rosie O'Grady's Good Time Jazz Band. Dave...
The Good Time Gang at Rosie O'Grady's
The entire staff at Church Street Station gathered in Rosie O'Grady's Good Time Emporium - from Rosie's, the Cheyenne, Lili Marlene's Aviator's...
Rob and Jenny - Rosie O'Grady's Dancing Duo
Photograph of Rob and Jenny - two of Rosie O'Grady's Good Time Emporium entertainers who performed their dancing routines on the West...
Rosie O'Grady's - Church Street Station
Rosie O'Grady's Good Time Emporium featured a Red Hot Mama, a hot Dixieland band, singing waiters and Can Can girls. The waitresses...
Rosie O'Grady's Can Can Girls
Guests were treated to a bit of French culture during each show at Rosie O'Grady's Good Time Emporium! Female waitresses would don...
Rosie O'Grady's Singing Waiters
This post card features Rosie O'Grady's Singing Waiters who in addition to participating in the patriotic grand finale waving the Confederate flag...
Rosie O'Grady's 1982
We moved away from Orlando in 1976, but returned often and visited Rosie's everytime we were in town. In November 1982 we...
Rosie O'Grady's 1982
We moved away from Orlando in 1976, but returned often and visited Rosie's every time we were in town. In November 1982...
Rosie O'Grady's 1982
This photo was taken in November 1982 from the second floor. This was Christopher's first time at Church Street Station and he...
Rosie O'Grady's Reunion - Holly & Dolly's
Announcing going away party for Don Lord nd reunion of Rosie O'Grady's Good Time Jazz Band at Holly and Dolly's in Casselberry....
Rosie O'Grady's Reunion - Holly & Dolly's
Rosie O'Grady's Reunion at Holly and Dolly's in Casselberry. Red Hot Mama Miss Ruth Crews is belting out "Your Feets Too Big." That's...
Rosie O'Grady's Reunion - Holly & Dolly's
Rosie's O'Grady's Red Hot Mama Miss Ruth Crews with world famous aviator Joe Kittinger, George Palmer and Bill Allred on the trombone. George...
Rosie O'Grady's Reunion - Holly & Dolly's
Rosie's O'Grady's Red Hot Mama Miss Ruth Crews with world famous aviator Joe Kittinger helping Ruthie out with a song. To the right...
Rosie O'Grady's Reunion - Holly & Dolly's
Rosie's O'Grady's Red Hot Mama Miss Ruth Crews belting out a song. Local guitarist Chris Peters attended the event and was allowed...
Rosie O'Grady's Reunion - Holly & Dolly's
Rosie's O'Grady's Red Hot Mama Miss Ruth Crews belting out a song. Local guitarist Chris Peters attended the event and was allowed...
Rosie O'Grady's Reunion - Holly & Dolly's
Don Lord played cornet and flugelhorn in the Good Time Jazz Band at Rosie O'Gradys for many years. He would take on...
Rosie O'Grady's Reunion - Holly & Dolly's
Don Lord played cornet and flugelhorn in the Good Time Jazz Band at Rosie O'Gradys for many years. He would take on...
Rosie O'Grady's Reunion - Holly & Dolly's
Don Lord played cornet and flugelhorn in the Good Time Jazz Band at Rosie O'Gradys for many years. He would take on...
The patriotic grand finale of the show at Rosie O'Grady's Good Time Emporium brought everyone to their feet! The band leader would pose the question: Are there any folks here from the north? The response would be loud since many of the visitors to Orlando were from the North. The follow up question posed to Southerners would evoke even louder response at which time Ruth Crews and Spatz Donovan would lead the crowd singing Dixie as waiters unfurled the Rebel flag and waved it from the bar.
And then the Rebel flag was put away, Old Glory unfurled and Yankee Doodle sung, followed by "You're a Grand Old Flag" and finale "God Bless America" with everyone on their feet, waiters and can can girls in front of the stage, Uncle Sam on stilts and the Statue of Liberty on stage with Ruth and Spatz.
It was a site to behold and an experience to remember.
Waiters' Welcome - Rosie O'Grady's Good Time Emporium
This is the famed "Waiters' Welcome" song written by Bill Allred and sung nightly by the male waiters at Rosie O'Grady's. The song was performed live at Rosie O'Grady's Good Time Emporium for a live album entitled "Sights and Sounds of Church Street Station" - following two gentlemen visiting the entertainment complex for the evening.
Rosie O'Grady's Waiter's Welcome - Words and music by Bill Allred. Permission granted.
We'd like to welcome everybody to Rosie O'Grady's, the place where all the good times are!
You can forget about your taxes, the weather, the wars, and leave your other cares and woes outside our swinging doors.
We'd like to welcome everybody to Rosie O'Grady's, come in and belly up to the bar.
And if you do, it won't be long before you see why we're rated up there with the flag and mom's apple pie!
We'd like to welcome everybody to Rosie O'Grady's, the place where all the good times are!
Sung by Rosie O'Grady's singing waiters, this was the first song performed each night, and every word was true!
CSS Audio file waiters welcome
Press releases from the 1980s for general media use created to promote Church Street Station entertainers and venues from the files at the Orlando Public Library.
This release entitled "Never a Quiet Moment with Good Time Jazz Band," features Randy Morris, Jim Maihack, Boyd Bergeson, Don Lord, Warren Sauer, Bill Burns.
Press releases from the 1980s for general media use created to promote Church Street Station entertainers and venues from the files at the Orlando Public Library.
Entitled " Rosie O'Grady's Good Time Emporium Recalls Gay 90's to Roaring 20's" this press release declares "Rosie O'Grady's whisks visitors back to the showboat era of strumming banjos, Dixieland bands, bar top can-can girls, Charleston dancers, singing bartenders and waiters and silent movies, the Good Time Jazz Band with the Church Street Minstrel Man, "Last of the Red Hot Mamas," and the flag-waving routines of the Church Street Dynamo..
The release continues drawing attention to the architectural elements that made Rosie O'Grady's not an evening out but a trip back in time.
Press releases from the 1980s for general media use created to promote Church Street Station entertainers and venues from the files at the Orlando Public Library.
The subject and title of this press release is "Ruth Crews - Red Hot Mama," Sophie Tucker, Kate Smith, Bessie Smith and Ethel Merman rolled into one. The press release traces Ruthie's musical career from her early vocal training under Nancy Ness of the Metropolitan Opera to her days in Hollywood on shows like Rawhide, Wagon Train, Maverick and the Lucy Show.
The owner of the Red Garter chain discovered her in 1965 and she appeared in Chicago, New Orleans, St. Louis and San Francisco. It was while on vacation to New Orleans that Ruth stopped by a Pensacola, Florida "dixieland joint" called Rosie O'Grady's - Seville Quarter. One of the musicians recognized her from a gig in New Orleans and she was invited to sit in for a couple of tunes. Needless to say, Ruthie never took t hat vacation.
Recorded in 1977, Dixie-Direct featuring Rosie O'Grady's Good Time Jazz Band is a Direct Disk recording. The mic setup for the recording is explained in detail on the inside of the fold open album cover with great photos of each of the band members as I remember them from Rosie's golden days from the time they opened on July 26, 1974 until Bill Allred left the band at Church Street Station to take on other musical adventures with his own band performing around the world.
At the time the band included: Bill Allred, Randy Morris, Warren Sauer, Dave Gannett, Jim Maihack, Don Lord, Kent Abreo, Boyd Bergeson.
Front and back covers
Recorded in 1977, Dixie-Direct featuring Rosie O'Grady's Good Time Jazz Band is a Direct Disk recording. The mic setup for the recording is explained in detail on the inside of the fold open album cover with great photos of each of the band members as I remember them from Rosie's golden days from the time they opened on July 26, 1974 until Bill Allred left the band at Church Street Station to take on other musical adventures with his own band performing around the world.
At the time the band included from left clockwise:
Bill Allred (red shirt), Randy Morris, Warren Sauer, Dave Gannett, Jim Maihack, Don Lord, Kent Abreo, Boyd Bergeson.
Inside Cover
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