Briarwood Singers

The Briarwood Singers are a 1960s folk band from Miami, Florida who performed as opening act for the Beatles February 12, 1964 Concert at Carnegie Hall. Members of the group were: Barry Monroe, Stan Beach, Harry Scholes, Bob Hoffman and Dorinda Duncan. The Briarwood Singers had an album out at the time with United Artists called "Well, Well, Well The Briarwood Singers." The producer for the album was Leroy Holmes. They were playing music six nights a week at the Crossway Inn in Miami, Florida. The General Manager of the Crossway Inn was Ray Barbarino who had networking connections and expertise as an entertainment manager and promoter. He brought his friend and colleague, Leroy Holmes of United Artists down from New York to listen to the Briarwood Singers and got them a recording contract with United Artists. The group started playing at the Crossway Inn in July 1963, and recorded the album later that year. Ray Barbarino later sealed the deal for The Beatles opening act while working with Jackie Gleason and the Miami Beach Convention Center management team.

Barry Monroe is currently playing music professionally in Southern Colorado. Most recently, from Barry Monroe and Friends, his group is now called Cheap Therapy. Stan Beach lives in Falls Church, Virginia.

Over the years several Miami local talents became national celebrities after gigs at the Crossway, namely The Miami Sound Machine whose female singer was Gloria Estefan and Willie Chirino, a popular latin singer. The Crossway Airport Inn lounge became the hot spot to see top celebrities such as Peter, Paul & Mary, The Mama & the Papas, Fats Domino, Guy Lombardo & his Orchestra, to name a few.

During the early seventies, another unknown stand-up comedian who held local gigs repeated pestered Barbarino for a job at the Crossway. His name...Gab Kaplan. Once again, Ray Barbarino set Gab up with his contacts in New York and within 8-10 months received a letter from Gab which basically said "Barbarino - watch ABC on Wednesday at 8:00pm. I've got a surprise for you!". We all came to know the macho but stupid Vinnie Barbarino, played by John Travolta, a far cry from the real "Barbarino", but a tribute in some way from Gab.

While not an artist himself, but an incredibly sharp, and intuitive business leader, Ray Barbarino truly was an entertainment genius. His eye for talent and ear for crisp music and knowing what the public wanted to hear lead to many long and some short, but prosperous careers. Following the Crossway, Barbarino landed lucrative ventures with United Artists Corp, and as a venture capital group until he retired at age 45. After fourteen years of retirement, Ray Barbarino succumbed to leukemia in May of 1990 in Plantation Florida.