(Long time fan and family friend, The Lincoln County News sales representative Ernie Card composed the following ode to Muriel Havenstein who passed away March 1. At the request of the family, no public services are currently planned. A memorial event may be arranged later this summer.)
To say Muriel Havenstein died peacefully after she went to sleep Sunday evening would be accurate but not the fitting end for the “Midcoast Monster” so many knew and loved.
Even at age 85, her fans expected her to go on playing forever. Not an unreasonable assumption considering she played professionally for almost seven decades. Before she became the “Monster”, she was simply Muriel.
Muriel Ritchie was born in Manhattan on May 4, 1923. In the Bronx where she was raised, the Hit Parade that year featured such notable musical numbers as “Yes! We Have No Bananas” and “Nothing Could Be Finer Than To Be In Carolina In The Morning.”
There was music in the neighborhood. At home there was a piano, plus two brothers and a father who could play it.
When Muriel was a young girl she wanted to learn to play an instrument. Her first choice was drums; however, her father said no – for fear of the noise. So Muriel turned to the piano.
She studied for a number of years with an older woman. One day when Muriel was in her teens, the piano teacher asked for an audience with Muriel’s parents. She came over later that evening, after supper.
The Ritchie’s were very concerned – what could the teacher possibly have to say? The teacher came in and sat down and said, “Mr. and Mrs. Ritchie – I am sorry but I can no longer teach your daughter piano.”
“Why?” the Ritchie’s asked, and the teacher solemnly said, “Because Muriel keeps adding notes to Mozart!”
A short while later, at the ripe old age of 16, Muriel began to play professionally as an accompanist and with the all girl band, Estelle and Her Brunettes. She was performing at the Copa Cabana in Philadelphia in 1945 when she caught the eye of a handsome young Marine.
It was only natural that the young Marine, Robert Havenstein, would pursue the beautiful petite brunette. Two years later they were married. They settled into a small apartment on East 106th street in New York City. From this modest apartment, they moved to the spacious Todd Mansion on Todd’s Point in Old Greenwich, Conn.
This mansion was a beautiful three-story structure that was converted into 11 apartments for returning war veterans from the town of Greenwich.
The estate and the surrounding waterfront grounds became, in effect, a gated community and the perfect place to raise a young family. Christine was born first, followed a year later by her sister, June. Five years later a brother, Bobby, joined the family.
June recalls the fun of riding her bicycle in the middle of the road that ran towards the beach on sunny days and roller-skating in the gorgeous ballroom when the sunshine turned to rain. In the 1960s, the family moved to Riverside, still part of the town of Greenwich.
They stayed there until the early ’70s when Bob retired from National Airlines and the family moved to their new home on Damariscotta Lake in Maine.
With the kids grown up, Muriel decided to resume her musical career after a hiatus of nearly 25 years. She soon found work at the Clarissa Illsley’s Tavern in Damariscotta.
Some evenings, when she finished at the tavern, she would go down to Northey Square and jam with Dave and Bobby Page, Barney Balch, and Billy Sherman – the young group known as the Jazz Babies. As Dave Page put it recently, “Northey served as the stepping stone to launch Muriel into the big time in Maine”
Although well known for her long and beautiful intros to a tune, many fans may not realize that Muriel composed a new intro nearly every time she played a song. Often she would play for half a minute before even her family would recognize the tune.
Muriel served as an inspiration and mentor to many musicians, both young and old alike. She worked with a few vocalists, most notably, Melissa Hamilton, Leila Percy and Carole Stone. To list the many musicians Muriel played with over her long and illustrious career would be physically impossible.
For example, 30 famous musicians, including two of her mentors, horn players Ralph Norris and Don Doane, showed up to play for her 80th birthday concert at The Waldo Theatre.
Just a partial list of the outstanding bass players Muriel played with includes the late Jim Howe, Jack Tukey, John Hunter, Don Knowles, Lou Bocciarelli, Marshall Wood and Jim Lyden. Of course no list would be complete without two of Muriel’s favorite bass players, Al Doane and Bob Bragen.
Who can forget Robert Skoglund, the Humble Farmer? Skoglund is generally considered the one, who through his radio program, made the “Midcoast Monster” and Muriel Havenstein a household word.
Although a life-long Republican, Muriel was always willing to play at Democratic fundraisers across the state. When she was turning 80, the legislators wanted to honor her at the state house. Because Muriel was a very shy person, they knew she would never come up for a formal presentation. So they made her an offer that she couldn’t refuse.
They invited her trio to play the National Anthem for the opening of the Maine House of Representatives. The tradition is that any band coming to do the anthem plays for 45 minutes before the legislative session begins. So, Muriel, bassist Al Doane, drummer Chris Rogers and Rep. Leila Percy gathered early one nice spring morning in the rotunda between the two chambers.
Everyone walking though the halls of the capitol could hear their music. Legislators, staff and visitors all were tapping their feet as Muriel serenaded them.
For the National Anthem the band moved down into the well of the House of Representatives. Her music filled the chamber and everyone had a big smile – watching Muriel give it her all. She received a rousing standing ovation.
Later Muriel took a seat up in the balcony to watch the proceedings. Very soon the Speaker recognized Representative Percy and the Maine legislature paid tribute to the 80th birthday of Muriel Havenstein. A second standing ovation followed.
At the end of her trip to the state house, Muriel met governor John Baldacci. It was a “Muriel” moment to treasure. In the quiet of the Governor’s office, away from the cheering throng, witnessed by only her roadie and the state representative who invited her, two stubborn Italians sparred over whose mother had the best marinara sauce. It was no contest; Muriel was a terrific cook.
Muriel is survived by the handsome Marine she married in 1947, Robert Havenstein of Nobleboro, a daughter Christine Havenstein of Brunswick, daughter June Gallant of Nobleboro, a son, Bobby Havenstein of Nobleboro, grandchildren Walton Kinney of Trenton, Erin Henry of Norwalk, Conn. and great-grandson Logan Henry.
During her illness, Muriel was lovingly cared for by Debbie Sanborn. At the family’s request, a memorial service will be held this summer to benefit a musical scholarship being established in Muriel’s name at Lincoln Academy.
A purely personal note – I had the pleasure of driving Miss Muriel for over 12 years. You could say, I was either her middle aged roadie or the oldest band boy in America but, in any event, we sure covered a lot of ground and had a lot of fun doing it.
If you asked me who or what drove Muriel, I’d be the first to say it wasn’t me, it was her love of the music.
Muriel outlived most of her contemporaries yet she harbored no premonition of her own death. Only once did she speak about it publicly.
She told Bob Keyes of “The Maine Sunday Telegram,” “I’ve got to play. I love it. When it’s time to go, I want to be on that piano bench and just go, boom. What a wonderful way to go.”
Sunday afternoon January 25 Muriel set down to play the piano for the last time. Seated next to her was her favorite piano player Gary Wright of the Al Cory Big Band. Before they started Gary told the audience that when Muriel played there were only two kinds of pianos…a Steinway or a throwaway.
Last Sunday evening, I hope in her dreams she was seated on that piano bench.
