What I remember most about Al Morse was his smile – and his love for people and singing.
Morse – who died earlier this week after a long fight with cancer – touched the hearts of Villagers every time he stepped on stage with Rocky and the Rollers. He was a burly, cuddly teddy bear of a man, who would flash that gap-toothed grin and deliver a vocal filled with soulful passion. He bubbled with a joyous sense of wonder when he started to perform. He had a way of instantly connecting with an audience.
“We love this man,” Gerry “Rocky” Seader stated on Facebook. “His infectious smile touched everyone who came in contact with him. My prayers are with you, and you will always be my friend.”
Rocky and the Rollers played Sumter Landing on Wednesday evening and dedicated the show to the singer.
“Al Morse has passed and is now in heaven with our Lord,” Seader stated. “May he rest in peace and sing eternally with the angels. God bless his wonderful soul.”
Morse, 74, was a product of his times and his music. He grew up in Sanford, Florida, listening to the music of groups like the Platters, the Coasters, and the Drifters.
During the 1960s, teenage Al was captivated by the music of Sam and Dave, Wilson Pickett, Otis Redding and, of course, the Motown acts.
In his own way, Morse broke racial barriers. His bio states that in “1968-69 he was the first black student to win 1st place at the predominately white Lyman High School Talent Show in Longwood, Florida.”
I covered Al Morse for most of the past decade, when he sang with Rocky and the Rollers. One of his idols was Sammy Davis Jr. He once saw Davis play a Las Vegas showroom with just over 1,000 people. It was a big crowd, but Davis made everyone feel a part of the show.
“He came out to the front of the stage, sat on a little stool, lit up a cigarette and started talking,” Morse once told me. “Sammy made you feel like you were the only one there. It was like he was part of the family. He looked so happy and had so much fun, it made you feel good.”
That is the perfect description of Al Morse.
“I’ve seen a lot of performers in my time,” Morse told me, “and the one thing I learned from all of them is you have to smile and make people happy.”
DJ Al Brady used to host the Rocky and Rollers shows for most of Morse’s time with the band. He understood the singer’s special powers.
“So many people love Al because he makes them happy,” Brady told me. “No matter what happens, Al keeps smiling. He is a big man and a kind man. He embraces the love of others.”
For Morse, that was an easy task and part of the singer’s work.
“My job is to bring joy and happiness, and make people feel good,” Morse told me.
He had his own band called Public Opinion, that played around Florida in the early 70s. In 1974, Morse hooked up with a national act, Joey Dee’s band.
Dee was best known for his 1960s’ hits, such as “The Peppermint Twist.” Among the famed artists who played with Dee included Jimi Hendrix, and also Eddie Brigati, Gene Cornish and Felix Cavaliere, who later formed the Rascals.
Morse stayed with Dee for nearly a decade. Dee came to The Villages a few years ago and reunited with Al during a show for the Paisans Club. Dee gave Morse a hug on stage and called him: “one of my favorite people I worked with (and) my brother from a different mother.”
After leaving Dee, Morse kicked around and in 1997, Carl Gardner of the Coasters, a Rock and Roll Hall of Fame group dating back to the 1950s, asked Morse to join.
“It was like a dream,” Morse told me. “When I was a kid I was listening to the Coasters. Then I became one of them.” Morse, who has five children, left the Coasters in 2008 and toured with various shows, singing everything from the Blues Brothers to Cab Calloway.
Around 2010, Rocky called one night, when the Rollers needed a substitute singer.
“Rocky calls and tells me he needs somebody in a hurry, can I do it,” Morse recalled. “I said sure, show me the microphone.”
The Villages audience went wild over Morse’s soulful versions of Motown and other hits. The Rollers had always been a tight band, but never really had a dominant, soulful lead singer.
They found one in Al.
“We needed him,” Rocky said. “Al is a great singer.”
It was that way for nearly a decade until Morse was diagnosed with prostate cancer. One of the final times I saw him perform was a couple of years ago with Rocky at Brownwood Paddock Square.
Morse had been undergoing cancer treatments, but once he hit the stage, the old energy and passion boiled to the surface.
He ripped through a set with such numbers as “The Duke of Earl,” and “Land of 1,000 Dances.” He and Kathleen Kane went on a wild romp with “Proud Mary.” Al came back near the end of the show with one of his Otis Redding soulful specialties: “Can’t Turn You Loose.”
It was vintage Al Morse, and Rocky knew it.
“God is good; Al is here,” Rocky said. “I will always feel a part of Rocky and the Rollers,” Al added.
Morse talked about cancer, and the support of his companion Barbara White. “I don’t know what I would do without Barbara. She is like my right arm. She is the love of my life.” The Rollers have started a gofundme to help Barbara with medical and funeral expenses. For information go to: https://gofund.me/eb4d603c9
Despite cancer, he was content and at peace. “The Lord has blessed me, and I put everything I have into the hands of God,” he said.
“I have a great family and I have friends,” Morse added. “And it’s all a blessing from the Lord. I just want to thank all my friends and fans in the Villages for their prayers. They mean so much to me.
For Morse, the stage was more than a platform. It was a refuge. The happiness he brought to others gave him strength throughout the last difficult years of his life.
“On stage is where I really feel I belong,” he told me. “I just take each day as it comes, and I just want to keep singing.”
Now, the voice has been stilled, but the joy and memories of Al Morse’s wonderful musical life remains.
Tony Violanti writes about music and entertainment for Villages-News.com. He was inducted into The Buffalo Music Hall of Fame as a music journalist.