Delegate in search of J&H Productions, as far as Cincinnati and pertaining to 3562 Vista Avenue (and abroad).
On the weekend of April 8-10, 2005 I got to be in Cincinnati for the first time ever. As a huge fan of the J &H Productions recordings, I'd naturally printed myself a map to 3562 Vista Avenue before arriving, and made it my mission to go there and see what kind of an environment had nurtured the brilliance of the man behind J&H Productions International (even if it had changed significantly in the 20-odd years I estimated since the recording). Along the way I also searched out the Stadiums and Coliseums, and have included pictures below of what I believe to be them...
I must say that I found Cincinnati to be a very nice city, beautiful and hilly with lots of charm and some very attractive neighborhoods, it seemed quite livable. I will be back next year in the spring and hope to delve deeper into the J&H enigma; in the meantime here's what scant photographic evidence I could gather on a late saturday afternoon in a perplexingly-oriented city with no local guide...
I did't have the courage to go door-to-door on Vista Avenue, asking the kind of questions that NEED to be asked, but who knows if anyone still lives there from 20 years ago and whether they'd known our protagonist back then anyway. Maybe next time, or maybe a job for someone more outgoing and braver than myself...in the meantime, here are the photos I took, hope you enjoy them:
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Lost near the riverfront, I almost died of joy when I happened upon this sign (which wasn't very close to the stadiums/coliseums at all).
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I belive this may be the Stadium referenced, and I think the Reds play here but I can't confirm that.
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There seemed to be two or three different venues in a row, none looked like what I picture as a "Coliseum" but this may be it...
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Looking down Vista Avenue with great anticipation. The "vista" is of an expressway, which was always audible in the distance at the foot of this hill. I wonder if and how the neighborhood has changed in the last 20 years, it seems middle-class and quite decent now.
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Here's a 180-degree angle from the left shot, looking back up the hill from whence I arrived, near 3562. It's a long-ish, somewhat winding dead-end street that appears to terminate at the bottom of this hill. Houses were mostly well-kept, a fairly quiet setting.
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Many of the houses in the vicinity were of the same basic design, so since 3562 had obviously been redone recently (see next photos), I took this of the houses across the street. I believe that in the 80s, the J&H house must've looked more like this, or shabbier.
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Here we have "ground zero" with the house on the right: 3562 Vista Avenue. It pains me to see the polished exterior, as if the current tenants were trying to hide something from the past. Of all the houses on the street, why change THIS one? Leave it a shrine! I wondered how many pilgrims had come before me to ponder, and if any had knocked on the door...
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I sat and stared like a fool for several minutes, grappling with so many things in my head. Picturing our hero driving down this same road, walking down that same stretch of sidewalk, hearing that same traffic on the interstate, composing his masterpiece behind one of those windows... It gave me the chills and was an almost religious experience.
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I saw the J&H guy in every middle-aged or older black man in Cincinnati, how could I do anything but? My mind raced with the possibilities. This gentleman was outside the Dennison Hotel downtown, which appeared to be a men's hotel. Fortunately I'm sure Mr. J&H is in Hollywood, or at least Laus Vegas, putting stars to work in the Stadiums and Coliseums.
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