Shiny pins from Singapore, Norway, Belgium, Japan, Maine and Grand Rapids, Mich. cover Byron Ricketts’ cap — souvenirs from his trips with the Young@Heart chorus.
Audiences across the world treat Ricketts, 81, of West Street in Wendell and others in the chorus like rock superstars.
In Japan, an entire audience of 300 followed the chorus downstairs after the show and asked to shake each singer’s hand. So, the chorus formed a long receiving line.
“I sang ‘The Beast In Me’ and one little woman said, “The Beast!” and put her hands around me and rubbed my belly. I didn’t know what to do,” Ricketts remembers.
At this moment, Ricketts is the sole Franklin County member of the chorus, which began in 1982. Everyone in it is 73 or older, and they sing mostly rock and roll. They come from Florence, Chicopee, Springfield, Hatfield and many other towns.
The appeal of the chorus, says director Bob Cilman, is the audience gets to experience a great rock ‘n’ roll night with songs presented in a different way. The singers have known all the joy and pain of a long life, and that enriches the songs.
It’s not a bad way for Ricketts to spend his retirement, rehearsing each Monday and Thursday in Northampton with two guitarists, a saxophone player and a keyboardist, and performing throughout the year.
“Here, you have older people deciding not to stay at home and whither away, and they go out and enjoy life,” Ricketts says.
People are thrilled to be doing this in the later years of their life, Cilman says.
“I can’t imagine anything more fulfilling than this,” Cilman says.
Byron stands out, not just because he is a soloist, but because he is on the Young@Heart board of directors and constantly pitches in, such as coming early to every rehearsal to set up the chairs.
“We wouldn’t be doing these rehearsals if he wasn’t here,” Cilman says.
Ricketts grew up in Boston and began singing at 6 at St. Cyprian’s Episcopal Church in the city. He was a teenage soprano soloist singing with alto soloist Louis Farrakhan, former head of the Nation of Islam and minister of Boston and Harlem mosques. “It’s my claim to fame. He was two years older than me,” Ricketts says.
For three years, Ricketts sang in Black Nativity, which has been performing in Boston nearly 50 years and puts on 12 shows each December.
Ricketts’ life is unique. He worked for Raytheon in Waltham on computer guidance systems, for the Hawk, Polaris and Poseidon missile systems, the Apollo space systems and the Lunar Excursion Module.
He also served time in the Army and raised hogs in Wendell.
Nowadays, Ricketts helps at the Wendell Library, and one day, a resident returned a DVD called “Young@Heart,” which features the chorus singing “Should I Stay Or Should I Go?” by the Clash and “I Want To Be Sedated” by the Ramones.
Ricketts was intrigued. He came to a rehearsal and Bob Cilman asked him to sing. Ricketts wasn’t sure he knew a whole song, and then he thought of Danny Boy.
“They asked me, ‘Are you Irish?’ and I said, ‘Today I am.’”
Ricketts is a huge folk fan and loves Harry Belafonte. He knows some of the songs Bob Cilman suggests for Young@Heart, but not all. Those include “Fake Plastic Trees” and “Nobody Likes a Fairy When She’s 40.”
“We don’t know where Bob gets these songs,” he says.
The singers work from a page of words, not sheet music. At a recent rehearsal at the Florence Civic Center, they sang “Space Oddity” by David Bowie, “Muhammad Ali” by the local band Trailer Park, “Time Won’t Let Me” by the Outsiders, and “Boogie Oogie Oogie” by Taste of Honey, among 22 others.
At a recent rehearsal, Ricketts sings a duet version of the soul classic, “Gimme Little Sign” by Brenton Wood. He and Rollie Emond of Granby face each other and alternate lines.
“If you do want me, gimme little sugar
If you don’t want me, don’t lead me on, girl
But if you need me, show me that you love me …”
Byron ends the song in falsetto.
“Just give me some kind of sign girl, oh my darling
To show me that you’re mine girl, alright …”
Then he steps up for a solo of “The Beast in Me.”
“The beast in me
Has had to learn to live with pain
And how to shelter from the rain
And in the twinkling of an eye
Might have to be restrained.
God help the beast in me.”
“It’s a very emotional experience for me,” he says. “Because I know what it’s all about. I’ve been in that place.”
Ricketts doesn’t really want to be a soloist. It’s scary. He remembers once singing “The Beast in Me” in Boston and completely forgetting a line.
But recently, the chorus began rehearsing “Just My Imagination” by the Temptations, a song Ricketts likes and knew well enough to sing along right away.
Cilman stopped the singers and turned to Ricketts.
“Do you know this song,” Bob asked him.
“No,” Byron responded quickly.
“Well, try it,” Bob said, wanting him to go solo.
Byron pauses as he tells that story.
“Singing solos is not my favorite, but I’ll do it.”