Belle Tavern still lives in song
Hearing the stories about his grandfather's Belle Vernon night club opened more than 60 years ago was enough to make James Daniero Jr. want to write a song about its legacy.
The 56-year-old said Joseph Daniero, purchased the former Hotel Kyle in downtown Belle Vernon and converted it into the Belle Tavern in 1941.
The business was a classy spot that became the hub of live entertainment in the area. Shows were put on there seven days a week.
Born in Richmond, Va., in 1951, James Daniero Jr. said he and his family would visit the Mon Valley area twice a year.
That's how he became acquainted with how influential Belle Tavern was to the Mon Valley.
Joseph Daniero was an Italian immigrant who moved to the Mid-Mon Valley and worked as a coal miner before becoming the owner of a grocery store, gas station, small coal mine and bar.
Most of his businesses were in the Grindstone area.
After he quit the mines, the entrepreneur focused on putting Belle Vernon on the map by hosting a wide range of entertainment.
Female impersonators, ventriloquists, jugglers, comedians and hypnotists were part of the tavern talent pool.
The Beef Trust, four 300-plus pound ladies dressed as ballerinas, danced and flirted with the patrons.
Siamese twins Daisy and Violet Hilton performed at the tavern for six weeks in 1947.
Many regional musicians and entertainers also took the stage.
For James Daniero Jr., creating a song about the tavern was an historic and nostalgic mission.
"This was a growing, vital area back then," he said, noting the importance of live entertainment in the social setting.
James Daniero Jr. said his grandfather preferred to be low key, despite the success of his club.
"He was very quiet," James Daniero Jr. said. "He wasn't a flashy guy. He was very timid. He wasn't flamboyant at all."
Of all the stories he has heard about the Belle Tavern through his family and friends, James Daniero Jr. said he most admires those about military men who frequented the business before and after they were shipped out to fight in World War II.
A former linguist and pilot in the U.S. Air Force, he wanted to create a tribute to the brave souls who defended their homeland.
"Gone are the guys from World War II. They saved the world," the songwriter said.
The musician also honored those who worked hard in the mills on the home front to support their families.
"Belle Tavern" is the title track and name of James Daniero Jr.'s first recorded album, which he recently tracked in his hometown of Fresno, Calif.
The album is all instrumental, except for "Belle Tavern."
James Daniero Jr. sings and plays piano, accordion and other instruments on the album. He recorded the songs with musicians Roger Perry and Douglas R. Clark Jr.
Lew Gilliland, cousin of James Daniero Jr., said hearing the title track brought back many memories for him.
"It's a great nostalgia piece for those that grew up in that era that are still alive," Gilliland said. "Belle Tavern was pretty much the place to go. They brought acts from everywhere.
"Television killed it. After the war, when people started having access to television sets, they went less and less to night clubs. That's primarily when business fizzled and eventually died."
Gilliland, 59, a Vietnam veteran, grew up in Belle Vernon and now lives in Fort Pierce, Fla.
He recalled living in a hotel above Belle Tavern as a child.
"The nightclub portion became a playground for me and all my little buddies in downtown Belle Vernon," he said. "It was a great place to dance and dine."
In "Belle Tav-ern," Daniero Jr. mentions his father, James, who performed at the venue, his uncle Steven "Smitty" Smith, who served in World War II, and Gilliland's father, Lew, who also fought in the war and eventually took over Belle Tavern with his wife, Margaret Daniero Gilliland.
James Daniero Jr.'s father, a Grindstone native, lived in one of the rooms above Belle Tavern.
His son's song paints a picture of "Sergeant Smitty" and "Lieutenant Lew" visiting the club shortly after returning from the battlefields.
Honoring the war veterans in "Belle Tavern," Daniero sings the line: "Some are drinking to remember, some are drinking to forget."
Gilliland said he sees the song "Belle Tavern" as a recollection of a different way of life.
"It's really a tribute to the good old days when things were so different here before the Valley started to just kind of implode," Gilliland said.
Joseph Daniero suffered a stroke in 1953.
Soon after, he stopped hosting floor shows at the tavern and sold the business in 1955.
The building was destroyed in a fire on May 31, 2000.
The "Belle Tavern" album is being sold at Dee's Record and Video in Charleroi, Paul's Compact Discs on Liberty Avenue in Pittsburgh, Attic Records Store on Grand Avenue in Pittsburgh and George's record store in Johnstown.
