The Five Satins recorded the iconic blues ballad “In the Still of the Night” 60 years ago this month in the basement of St. Bernadette Church in New Haven, and the lead singer is returning to the church for a special anniversary celebration of the doo-wop song.
The Hartford Courant reports that four of the five African-American singers of the group at the time were looking for a place to record the record and Father Charles Hewitt suggested the group use the church’s basement to record.
On Feb. 19, 1956, they made history and recorded the popular song.
“Truly, all the elements [of a timeless hit] were in there,” Fred Parris, the lead singer, told the Catholic Transcript, “but the fact that it was recorded in St. Bernadette’s added an extra blessing to it.”
Parris, who lives in Hamden, will return to St. Bernadette Church on Monday morning and 125 students from St. Bernadette School will sing “In the Still of the Night” to the 80-year-old singer songwriter, according to the Catholic Transcript.
Vinny Mazzetta, who played saxophone on the recording and was a parishioner at the church, will also attend the anniversary celebration.
Father Francis Carter will host the public event at the church located at 385 Townsend Ave. in New Haven this Monday at 10 a.m.
The Scene
For more information on the event, please contact the Director of Communications, Maria Zone, at 860-541-6491 or St. Bernadette Church at 203-467-1007.
