Sammy Boyd, concert promoter who brought the stars to Asbury Park, has died

Sammy Boyd, whose show business expertise, entrepreneurial smarts and outgoing personality helped spark the Asbury Park revival, died after an illness on Aug. 3.

He was 75.

“When I think about Sammy, it's always about joy and lifting the spirits up,” said Rock and Roll Hall of Famer Darlene Love. “That's what we should all be looking at because no one has ever been around Sammy and had a down time. He not going to allow it.”

Boyd's Sammy Boyd Productions brought the greats of music, including Love, Ben E. King, Lesley Gore, Peter Asher, Lulu, Tony Bennett, Liza Minnelli, Ronnie Spector and more, to Asbury Park and area stages in the last 20 years.

“He grew up on the (Asbury Park) circuit and he always believed in it,” said Sammy Boyd Jr. “Because of the music history, he knew if there was one thing that could bring back Asbury it would be the music.”

More:The 'Dirty Shirley Temple of Doom' at Asbury Park's R Bar

More:Jersey Shore's Louyah has the Summer of '22 love song

Boyd, a longtime resident of Allenhurst, was a native of Newark who grew up singing doo-wop. In the '60s, he worked as an usher at Convention Hall in Asbury Park. In the '70s, he started working as a booking agent for cover bands, including Crystal Ship, Yasgur’s Farm, the Nerds, Backstreets and more.

“It grew into such a business that he would personally fly planes back and forth from Boston to New Jersey to see these bands,” Sammy Jr. said.

Boyd also owned and operated several Jersey nightclubs in the era, including Park Place in Asbury Park, City Lights and Close Encounters in South Amboy, and JJ Rockers and the Yakety Yak Cafe in Seaside Heights.

9/11 put a damper on the cover band scene, and Boyd made the move to real estate at the suggestion of Pat Schiavino, who has a similar music and real estate background.

“I knew with his work ethic, tenacity and personality he would be great in the real estate business,” Schiavino said.

Boyd eventually joined the John C. Conover Agency, and was regarded as one of the top agents in the city. He eventually started promoting concerts again, this time as benefits for area groups including Big Brothers Big Sisters, Interfaith Neighbors, the Boys and Girls Clubs of Monmouth County and more. His Sammy Boyd Presents eventually expanded into Red Bank.

Boyd was part of the group that created the Asbury Park St. Patrick's Day Parade, and he was named a “Living Legend” by the Asbury Music Awards in 2015. He was bestowed a Spirit of Asbury Park award by the city's Chamber of Commerce.

He also helped bring pizza slices back to the city's boardwalk. In 2018, he teamed with Dominic Maruca to bring Maruca's Tomato Pies, a legend on the Seaside Heights boardwalk, up to Asbury Park.

“He loved sitting on the bench across the boardwalk and watching people buy slices of pizza,” Sammy Jr. said.

The marquee atop of the entrance of Convention Hall pays tribute to Boyd.

“Sammy made an incredible impact on our Asbury Park music scene, community and organizations that benefitted by his generosity,” said Asbury Park City Council member Eileen Chapman on social media. “He will never be gone because he will always be present in my heart.”

Boyd is survived by his wife, Eileen, sons Salvatore and Sammy, daughter-in-law Laura and grand-daughter Madeleine. A funeral Mass will take place at 10:30 a.m. Saturday Aug. 13, at St. Mary's Church in Deal, and a celebration of life event will take place in the fall.

In lieu of flowers, the family asks friends to make a donation to Fulfill, formerly the FoodBank of Monmouth & Ocean Counties, or a local charity.

“He had this gigantic personality and he was always friendly, always upbeat,” Schiavino said. “I never heard him say a bad word about anyone or anything. He was a very happy, successful person - he's going to be missed. He's one of those larger than life characters you don't often come by.”

Love last saw Boyd at a memorial for the late Ronnie Spector earlier this year, and her last concert with him was her annual Christmas show at the Count Basie Center for the Arts in Red Bank in December. She called it a "spiritual" experience. Love visited the Boyd family on Monday, Aug. 8, to express her condolences.

“What is keeping me going is the wonderful times, and the joy that I had when I was with Sammy,” Love said. “It was never a down time. That's what we all have to look forward to - the joy that was around Sammy when we were around him. No one can ever take that away from us. We'll always have that.”

Subscribe to app.com for the latest on the New Jersey music scene.

Chris Jordan, a Jersey Shore native, covers music and entertainment for the USA TODAY NETWORK New Jersey. Contact him at @chrisfhjordan; [email protected].

This article originally appeared on Asbury Park Press: Sammy Boyd, concert promoter who brought stars to Asbury Park, died